The Path of Forbidden Love
by sheridangraham0
Summary: All human. Trigger warning: rated M for a reason. Hayley has been married to Klaus for four years now and things are starting to get hard as they approach their fifth year of marriage. Klaus is that busy with work he no longer has time for Hayley. With Hayley feeling alone and ignored, what will happen when Elijah comes to visit?
1. Chapter 1

The rays of the morning sun are shining brightly through the windows of all the houses and apartments in New Orleans, forcibly waking anyone inside. A loud, sluggish groan comes from one of the highest apartments in the city as Hayley Marshall awakes.

Never one to sit and enjoy mornings, Hayley who is lay flat on her stomach, turns to face away from the window. She expects to open her eyes and find her husband lay there smiling at her, but when she opens her eyes... there is nothing but an empty space next to her. This is nothing new to Hayley. Almost everyday for the past year of her marriage, Hayley has woken up alone and by now, she is use to it.

But that does not mean that it hurts less.

Suddenly feeling very awake, Hayley jumps up without a seconds thought or hesitation. She walks into the en-suite bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror as she pulls her toothbrush and toothpaste from the little cup at the side of the sink. Beautiful, emerald green, catlike eyes stare back at her. After staring herself out for a few seconds, Hayley sighs and averts her eyes to her long, brown wavy hair. Even after a long sleepless night of tossing and turning, her hair shines in the utter most delightful way.

Once she has finished in the bathroom, Hayley walks to her wardrobe. She pulls out some tight, dark blue jeans and a black tank top. She puts them on and then takes her dark grey jacket off its hanger and pulls that on. The sun may be shining, but its best to be prepared for the weather to take a turn for the worst.

Hayley walks out of her bedroom and down the corridor to the large, open space kitchen and living room area. She collects an empty tumbler from the night before, she assumes. She went to bed quite early last night, didn't even wait for Klaus to arrive home. And it is not the first time she has done that as of recent.

Truth is, Hayley takes herself to bed early to avoid the impending arguments. She hates arguing, she always has, and her husband, Klaus knows that. But it doesn't stop him from bringing the same arguments up whenever he is in a rotten mood. Which seems to be always at the moment.

Once in the kitchen, Hayley drops the glass in the sink; she isn't going to wash it for him. She then opens the fridge and pulls out a bowl of fruit. She grabs a clean cup from the cupboard and pours what is left from the coffee machine into it before grabbing a spoon from the drawer. As Hayley walks to the large black couch, she hears the familiar panting sound coming from down the corridor. Hayley sits down on the couch, folding her legs under her, just as a grey and white, wolf-like husky appears.

"Hey Jack" she says in a high pitched voice that most women use when talking to their babies.

Jack wags his tail and trots over to Hayley. He jumps up on the couch next to her and lies down, resting his head on her leg. Hayley smiles at him before picking out a piece of apple from her breakfast and offering it Jack, who takes it instantly.

Hayley hadn't wanted a dog at first, but now she could not imagine her life without him. That is probably because he is always there when she needs a cuddle, or someone to talk to who won't immediately jump to conclusions or cause an argument. He can't speak anyway but that's besides the point.

Suddenly not feeling too hungry, Hayley finishes her coffee and goes back into the kitchen. Jack follows, knowing what is about to come. Hayley puts the rest of the fruit in Jack's dog bowl and puts her cup and bowl in the sink. She turns back around to see Jack has already finished the fruit and is sat there staring at her expecting more. She's known many dogs in her lifetime, but she has never known a dog to be as greedy as Jack.

Hayley smiles and kneels on the floor. Jack goes to her and she wraps her arms around him as he rests his chin on her shoulder. He is hugging her in his own way.

"There's none left. Sorry, little boy."

Hayley pulls away and kisses Jack's head before she stands up and walks to the front door. Jack follows her and gives her the puppy dog eyes, thinking that she is going somewhere without him.

"Just getting the mail, I'll be right back" Hayley tells the dog as she makes her way out of the door.

The elevator opens before she can even press the button and out steps Rebekah, her sister-in-law. She has the mail in her hand and a smile on her face as she sees Hayley. They grew very close during the planning of the wedding, mostly because the groom couldn't care less about who was wearing what and what order the day was going to go in.

"Hayley!" Rebekah pulls Hayley in for a quick hug.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Rebekah pulls away and walks into the apartment without invitation. Something that use to bother Hayley but she has grown use to the blonde's ways. If Rebekah wants something, she'll take it and if Rebekah wants to do something, no one is stopping her.

"Where is my evil brother today? I planned to do lunch with him aroundabout this time."

"Beats me, but its nice to know he has time for you and not for me," Hayley says as she follows Rebekah into the apartment.

"Oh, not this again. Hayley, this has been going on for far too long, you need to give him a slap and tell him his family is far more important than work". Rebekah says while petting Jack.

"I've already tried that and do you know what that leads too?"

"Arguments," they say simultaneously.

They look at each other for a few seconds and then they both break into a smile. Rebekah is a one of the main reasons why Hayley has been able to stay strong and stand up to Klaus when it is necessary and he takes things too far. Which at the moment seems to be every time they see each other, and even that really isn't that often.

"Oh, almost forgot."

Rebekah holds the mail out to Hayley and she takes it. As Rebekah goes to the kitchen to help herself to whatever she can find, Hayley plops herself down down on the black, single seated couch and reads the names on the envelopes.

Two bills, a letter about work for Klaus that Hayley considers shredding, a letter from the gym for Hayley and a handwritten letter with both Klaus and Hayley's names on the front.

Curiosity is about to get the better of Hayley when Rebekah returns with a bar of chocolate in her hand. Well, half a bar of chocolate because the other half is in her mouth. The blonde eats and eats and eats, but barely ever puts on any weight, and that isn't because she goes to the gym because the blonde doesn't even know the meaning of the word.

"Anything nice?" Rebekah asks, nodding towards the mail, mouth full of chocolate.

Hayley looks at the mysterious letter for a few seconds before she looks beck up to Rebekah and smiles. She shakes her head. She would tell Rebekah about the letter but a part of her knows that if she did the letter would be open before Hayley could blink. Hayley is nosy, but Rebekah is something else.

"There never is anything nice anymore."

Jack runs in and skids to a stop in front of Hayley. He barks three times and then goes around in a circle twice before he barks again. Hayley laughs at him and Rebekah smiles as she holds his leash up in the air. She waggles it and Jack flies over to her, tail wagging like a fan.

"I think its about time we got this pup outta here."

Hayley smiles at Rebekah and puts the mail to one side before getting up.

"Lets go."

Once his leash was clipped on, Jack barked again and ran to the door, excitement surging through his body. Hayley and Rebekah follow him, a little less excited. Hayley grabs the end of his leash and opens the door to let Rebekah out first. Once Rebekah has gone through the door, she presses the button for the elevator and turns back to Hayley, who is staring back at the mystery letter on the arm of the chair.

"You coming?" Rebekah asks, dragging Hayley out of her trance.

"Yeah" Hayley says and shuts the door behind them, leaving the mystery letter behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack drags Hayley and Rebekah through the markets that have people flooding the streets. Every time Hayley has stopped to let Rebekah catch up after spending far too long looking at something she knows she does not need and will not buy, her arm has nearly been yanked off by Jack, who has been making it very clear he wants to walk, not stand and look at cheap bracelets and scarfs. His personality almost reminds Hayley of Klaus: greedy, bossy and controlling, yet somewhere inside him there is a loving and caring side... only difference is Jack shows his a hell of a lot more than Klaus.

A ringing comes from Hayley's pocket. She pulls her phone out to see 'Klaus' displayed on the screen and she rolls her eyes. Speak of the devil. She is in no mood to be dealing with him. Rebekah comes up beside her, takes one look at Hayley's phone and raises her eyebrows, a small smirk on her face.

"Can you?" Hayley asks, giving Rebekah an innocent look.

Hayley hands the phone out to Rebekah, who opens her mouth wide, faking a shocked face and shakes her head before she walks away. Hayley sighs and then makes a quiet growling sound as she squeezes the phone in her hand, wishing it would crack and break. Jack looks up at her and she shakes her head again.

"Are you ready for this?" Jack puts his paw over his face and Hayley chuckles. He understands far too much to just be a normal dog.

As slow as possible, Hayley moves her thumb towards the green answer symbol, hoping that by the time her finger reaches it, Klaus will be fed up of waiting and will ring off. But her finger edges closer and closer with no signs of Klaus cancelling the call. Hayley is tempted to just ignore the call, but she knows Klaus will know she is ignoring him and that will cause another argument. So, when her finger reaches the green symbol, she has no choice but to click it.

"Hello" she answers.

"Hey, look I don't have long, but I thought I should call to tell you to clear your schedule for tonight because when I get home we're going to spend the entire night together without arguments". Klaus' strong British accent replies quickly from the other end of the phone.

"Are you sure?" Hayley asks, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure, sweetheart."

"Well, you've said this before and then-"

"Well, this time its different. I will be home as early as possible and I will spend time with you" Klaus interrupts.

Hayley bites her lip to stop herself from smiling. It's been awhile since he's made her feel this special.

"Oh, shit..." Klaus says and Hayley starts to walk towards Rebekah with Jack.

"What?" She asks, unsure what to expect.

"Hayley, I know I just promised, but... I can't do tonight."

Hayley's face drops, along with her heart.

"The files are all wrong, so are the production dates, I'll have to go through it all again. That will take about an hour, then I'll have to supervise the team... because I can't trust them to do one fucking thing right! For crying out loud! Hayley, I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Okay". Hayley has nothing else to say to him so she hangs up first.

Refusing to look up at Rebekah, she carries on walking once she reaches her. Rebekah stands and frowns for a few seconds before she catches Hayley up and walks next to her. She isn't sure what to say just yet, so she settles for walking in silence. She can tell its Klaus who has upset her again, it always is. But Hayley isn't one to talk about her problems and when she does its because she has been pushed too far.

"What has the bastard done now?" Rebekah asks, hoping to get a smile out of Hayley. She gets nothing.

"Don't let him get you down, love. He's not worth the hassle" she puts her hand on Hayley's back and rubs for a few seconds before dropping her hand.

"Do you think hes cheating?" Hayley says, her head suddenly flying up at the thought.

Rebekah laughs and Hayley frowns at her.

"The only thing he's cheating on you with is a pen and paper, and maybe some of them bloody spreadsheets! Even if he tried he couldn't get another woman now. He's lost his touch completely, so don't worry about that, dear."

Nodding, Hayley realises how correct Rebekah is. Klaus has lost his touch. Not just with Hayley but with everyone and everything apart from his work. And if he can't even charm his own wife anymore, what chance does he have with a woman who knows nothing about him and the nice man he use to be?

"How can he work so much though? He doesn't even do anything interesting, just advertisements."

"Yes, I don't understand it either, but don't worry. It's only him who will regret missing all this time with you."

They reach the apartment an hour later and Rebekah gives Hayley a quick hug and then strokes Jack. Hayley remembers Rebekah mentioning an appointment at the clinic about babies with her fiance, Marcel. All Rebekah has wanted for the past couple of years has been a child, girl or boy, she doesn't care, she just wants a child. Unfortunately, they have been having trouble conceiving, hence the appointment at the clinic.

Hayley watches Rebekah walk to her silver Audi A4 before she goes into the apartment building. She presses the elevator button and the doors open for her. Her and Jack get onto the elevator and wait patiently for it to reach their floor: the very top floor. Once it stops and the doors open they step out and Hayley opens the door to the apartment. She takes Jack's leash off and watches him run to his water bowl.

After shutting the door behind her, Hayley makes her way straight towards the small pile of mail she left on the arm of the chair. She ignores all of the letters apart from the handwritten one and goes to the black marble island in the middle of the kitchen. She pulls out a stool and sits down with the letter in front of her.

Finally, she opens it and pulls out the letter. The paper looks extremely posh, extremely expensive and extremely old. It makes her wonder who has sent it considering her and Klaus don't know anyone who could afford such a thing... except maybe Klaus' father. But he would never send something like this to Klaus; they don't get on. Even the writing looks unbelievably fancy.

It reads...

 _Dear Niklaus or Hayley Mikaelson,_

 _I do realise that this may come to a shock to you considering I have not seen Niklaus for over two years and I have never met Hayley at all, but I am currently on my way to visit from Italy. After spending some time to recover from my loss, I have realised that I have neglected to act as part of the family. And I intend to change that. I have already payed a visit to mother, father, Finn and his wife in England, they all seem happy and fulfilled with their lives. I then went to Columbia to see Freya, she has decided to do a world tour. She is trying to visit 200 countries before she turns 35, and she is doing very well. I couldn't quite track Kol down, but I did leave him a message, so I am sure if I don't find him, he will find me. And it did not escape my attention that both of you and Rebekah are all living in New Orleans. So, why not kill two birds with one stone? And meet the woman who I have heard so much about from Freya and mother. If she is as beautiful as they say, you are a very lucky man, Niklaus._

 _I should be arriving a day or so after you get this,_

 _Elijah Mikaelson_

Hayley drops the letter on the table and pushes it away from her. How has she not found out about these other brothers sooner? She knows about Kol, it is hard to not know about him when he could appear at any time with thousands of pounds from his latest casino win, begging Klaus to come and spend it with him. She knows about Freya, she was at the wedding. So was Klaus' mother, she was quite judgemental, which had worried Hayley at first, but once she got to know her she found out she was a kind woman really. But she has never met his father. They have never spoke about his father. All she knows of him is that he was never fond of Klaus.

Hayley wonders whether there is a reason for that as she pulls the letter back to her again. She decides that Elijah must be a smart man with a lot of money. Controlling and handsome, maybe even a little stuck up, judging from the construction of the letter and how the sentences are structured.

Wanting to know more about Elijah before he just appears on the doorstep, Hayley goes down the corridor and into the small box room where they store everything. Boxes full of old letters and bank statements and other things are stacked high. Hayley looks for any boxes marked 'Klaus'.

At first she doesn't find much, but about an hour later she finds two boxes full of Klaus' things. Klaus was never one to keep a diary, but there are a few little chapters of his life that he has written up. Things that he finds important or memorable. And if Elijah feels comfortable just showing up after a couple of years without any notice apart from a letter, Klaus must have kept or wrote something about him.

Six boxes later, Hayley pulls out the pieces of paper until she gets to the bottom of the box where there lies a family photo. It doesn't look that old, it could only be from a few months before Hayley met Klaus, a year before maybe.

In the picture Hayley can clearly make out Rebekah, Klaus and Kol. Freya looks a lot like her mother in this picture and the man stood next to their mother must be their father. Then there are two men and a woman. The woman has fiery red hair and is stood very close to one of the men. Finn and his wife. That means that the other man stood next to Rebekah is Elijah.

Elijah is wearing an expensive looking black suit and white shirt in the picture, which is what Hayley had expected him to dress like while reading the letter. He has his left hand in his pocket and his other resting by his side. He isn't smiling, none of them are accept their mother, but he isn't unhappy or miserable either. Maybe just slightly empty.

Suddenly the front door goes and Jack starts to bark. Hayley frowns wondering who it could be. She checks her watch to see that she has been sat here searching Klaus' things for three hours. She bites her lip and sighs, realising that it's probably Klaus who has just come in. It is wrong for her to dread seeing her husband, but she can't take the arguing anymore.

Reluctantly, she gets up and comes out of the box room. She leans against the wall at the end of the corridor and watches Klaus plop himself down on the couch and kick off his shoes. He already has a glass of scotch in his hand, something else Hayley hates about him. He doesn't know when to stop drinking anymore.

Klaus comes home every night and drinks. He can be sensible and have three drinks and off to bed, or he can get carried away and have eight, nine, sometimes more. Then he gets grouchy and aggressive. And before they know it, there're arguing and saying horrible things to each other.

Internally preparing herself for the worst, Hayley clears her throat and Klaus looks at her for a few seconds before he turns back away and reaches to for the TV remote on the glass coffee table in front of him. He takes a sip of his drink and acts as if Hayley is not there.

"I thought you were working late," Hayley finally says, feeling slightly annoyed at how ignorant he is being.

"I'm going back in an hour. Giving them chance to prepare for the meeting" Klaus says as he flips through the channels, looking for something interesting to watch. He finally stops flicking when he finds a baseball game.

"Right... Well, I'm gonna be in the box room if you want me" Hayley says and leaves him to it.

"Which you never do" Hayley mutters as she walks into the box room.


	3. Chapter 3

Hayley is woken by a blinding light coming in through the window. Like usual, she groans and rolls over and also like usual, she is in bed alone. She shouldn't be as disappointed as she is, but after Klaus breaking another epic promise to spend time with her, care for her and love her, she feels as disappointed as she can possibly be.

A bang echos through the apartment and Hayley jumps up. Jack could be routeing through the cupboards again looking for treats. Or Rebekah could of used her key and crept in, maybe she is making breakfast. Or maybe she is being robbed. Well, if she is, she isn't about to take it lying down.

In one swift move, Hayley is out of bed and on her way down the corridor to comfort her intruder. She hides all fear that she may be feeling and puts on her war face. The only weapons she needs are her fists and her feet. She approaches the kitchen, she gets her fists ready, preparing herself for who might be around the corner.

Surprisingly, Hayley rounds the corner to find Klaus looking through the cupboards. She instantly drops her fists and sighs as she takes a seat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. She waits patiently for Klaus to turn around and notice her. When he does he gives her a small smile and goes to another cupboard and begins to search through it.

"What are you looking for?"

"My flask. I thought it was in with the coffee cups."

Hayley sighs and gets up off the stool. She opens the first cupboard she comes to and there on the shelf is Klaus' flask. She takes it out and puts it on the counter in front of him. He looks at it in shock almost for a few seconds and then turns around to see Hayley sat down on the stool once again.

"Doing anything good today?" He asks as he fills his flask with coffee.

"Not really, but there is something I want to talk to you about" Hayley says and Klaus raises his eyebrows and nods once.

"And whats is it?" he asks, sounding uninterested.

"Your brother sent us a letter saying hes coming to stay."

Klaus looks at her for a few seconds, wondering which brother it could be. Finn would make his life a complete bore, no drinking, no TV, no cellphone, its all about family time and conversation. Kol would ruin his deal with work by pestering Klaus to join him on his nights out and to be his wing man. And then there was Elijah... Klaus has no idea what he might do. Probably just explore the city and make some of the remarkable dishes he has learnt to make from his travels.

"So, is there anything I should know about Elijah before he shows up?" Hayley pulls him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing specific. He's one for the dramatics, enjoys finer things, you probably won't enjoy his company to be honest" Klaus finishes and then takes a sip of coffee from his flask.

"You working late?" Hayley asks and Klaus nods and checks his watch.

Quickly, he picks his bag up off the floor and makes his way to the front door. Without a see you later, or goodbye. Hayley sighs and looks down to see Jack panting and looking up at her. Hayley is positively sure that Klaus is wrong. With the limited company she has nower days having Elijah around will be good for her.

Hayley looks at the time and moans as she rubs her eyes. It's not even nine yet and she's wide awake, all because of Klaus banging around the kitchen. She looks at Jack and he wags his tail as if she is about to give him a treat or something. He barks and jumps up, nuzzling at her knee for attention. Hayley strokes behind his ear and he leans into her touch.

"How about we go for a run?"

Jack barks twice and Hayley smiles at him.

"Right, lets get ready."

A few minutes later, Hayley is in her running gear and is on her way out with Jack. She started running when Klaus became obsessed with his work. She needed something to keep her occupied while she waited all day for him to come home. At first she tried working in bars, but they were only looking for people to do night shifts. So, her second option was running. And when they got Jack, he became her running partner.

Hayley starts running without warning and drags Jack a little, but he soon joins in, running beside her, overtaking her every now and again. Hayley considers going through the market but then thinks better of it judging how busy it usually is. Instead they run down an alley and onto a more empty street where they can actually see where they are going.

Soon enough, they reach the edge of the city. Hayley stops and Jack lies down instantly. She chuckles at him and looks around, looking for somewhere she can get a glass of water for Jack. While looking around, she spots a couple on a balcony. The woman stood looking out onto the city with a man stood behind her, hugging her. Both of them have huge smiles on their faces. Hayley sighs and looks down at Jack, who is already looking at her.

Jack seems to understand how distance Hayley and Klaus are. He often sits and watches the arguments, then he picks a side. Going and sitting with whoever he chooses or thinks is right. And it's usually Hayley.

Suddenly, drops of rain start to fall from the sky. Hayley looks up and lets out a loud groan. She can't believe that out of all days this week for the weather reporter to be right, they choose today. The day she is miles away from home and has no money to get a taxi back to the apartment.

Jack starts licking the floor and Hayley rolls her eyes.

"Come on, get ready to run."

They start running again but it doesn't stop the rain managing to drench them. And by the time they finally reach the apartment building they are dripping. On the way in, Hayley spots a black Jaguar XJ parked in front of the building. She frowns, that car has never been parked there before, she is certain of it... and there is someone sat in it.

However, the rain somehow begins to fall even harder and she can't stand there staring at the man in the fancy car all day. Hayley quickly pulls Jack into the apartment building. Once they reach the apartment, Hayley opens the door and Jack runs in. Hayley panics straight away in case he goes on the couches while he is wet, and she runs in without shutting the door.

"Jack, no! Away from the couch!"

Hayley chases him around the couch and into the kitchen area and back to the couch. She gets close and jumps to grab him, but he dodges her, causing her to fall on the hard floor face first. She lets out a loud moan and turns her head to the couch to check he isn't on it.

"Are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice from behind says.

As quick as possible, Hayley turns to face the door to see a man crouched over her. Not just any man. Elijah Mikaelson. She looks him over as subtly as she can, which apparently is not subtle at all because he starts to smirk at her.

Everything about him is leaving her speechless. His spotless, shiny shoes, his fitted black suit, his immaculate navy coloured shirt and his exquisite Armani watch with a lovely leather strap. With literally no idea what to say, Hayley can only lie there and nod as her eyes finally meet his.

Elijah has a flawless face, a perfectly trimmed stubble, what looks like extremely soft hair and beautiful, honest brown eyes. Eyes that are drawing her in, in a way they really shouldn't be.

Slowly, he holds one of his hand out to her while the other hand wraps around her waist. Hayley takes his hand and allows him to pull her up from the cold marble floor. Once standing, she dusts herself off and then looks up to see how close she is to him. She quickly takes a step back.

Elijah holds out his hand and Hayley smiles up at him as she takes it.

"Elijah, it's nice to finally meet you."

"And I assume you are Hayley" Elijah says with a dazzling smile on his face.

"That's me" she says, an even larger smile appearing on her face.

Elijah looks her over and when his eyes return to hers he gives an almost seductive look.

"You're even more beautiful than I imagined" he says slowly in the most charming voice Hayley has even heard.

Realising that they are still holding hands, Hayley gently removes her hand from his and looks down at her wet clothes. She suddenly feels extremely embarrassed. He is here in the smartest most expensive suit she has ever seen and she is wearing her soaking wet running clothes.

"I'm sorry, I look a mess."

"Don't be ridiculous, the last thing you are is a mess."

Hayley blushes and bites her lip as her flirty smile is about to appear. She suddenly remembers that she is married to his brother and should not be playing this game with him. But he started it, so does that make him as bad as Hayley?

"I'm gonna go and get cleaned up. Feel free to make yourself at home and I'll be back as soon as I'm done" Hayley says and grabs Jack by his collar as she walks towards the bathroom.

Noticing that they are going to the bathroom, Jack tries to pull away and almost rips Hayley's arms off. Before he can, she drags him into the bathroom and shuts the door. She switches on the shower, grabs a towel and starts to dry Jack.

Once he is dry, Hayley opens the door, lets him out and then removes all of her clothes before jumping into the shower. She has no time to fuss, so she quickly throws the shower gel on herself and lets it wash away before she grabs her towel and dries herself. She runs into her room, grabs what clothes she can and pulls them on quicker than she ever has before. She then walks back down the corridor to the living room where Elijah is waiting.

When she walks in he looks up from the couch and smiles at her. She bites her lip and curses herself for the things his smiles are doing to her... things Klaus' smile never did to her.

Elijah moves over on the couch and Hayley smiles at him as she comes to sit down next to him. Inside she is hoping that when Klaus said he would be home late, he meant very late because all she wants to do right now is get to know Elijah.


	4. Chapter 4

Hayley leans over to the coffee table and picks up a tumbler and decanter. She can feel Elijah's eyes on her the whole time, but she acts as if she doesn't notice. She has felt them on her for the past hour while they have talked about pointless stuff and she is feeling slightly under pressure, but she won't let him know that. She gives Elijah the glass and removes the lid from the decanter.

"So, tell me about Italy" Hayley says as she pours Elijah a glass of scotch.

"It was wonderful. I've been countless times, but each time I go it seems even more perfect than the last" Elijah says, smiling at her once he has finished.

"I wanted to go to Italy for my honeymoon, but Klaus had already booked Hawaii."

Once his glass is half full, Hayley puts the decanter back on the coffee table and settles into the couch. She brings her knees up to her chest and hugs her knees, resting her chin on them. She stares at Elijah as he speaks.

"Niklaus never did enjoy our trips to Italy. We use to go every summer as children and stay at our family home there. I and my other siblings adored everything about the place. Even our father enjoyed our time there. We use to look forward to the trip, all of use accept Niklaus" as he speaks he stares into his drink.

"Why didn't he like it there?" Hayley asks, her tone quiet.

Elijah meets her gaze and takes a deep breath.

"I never asked. He isn't one for talking about his emotions. Then again, neither am I."

"He isn't good at talking full stop" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles. She smiles, feeling quite proud that she can amuse him.

"It's something he gets from father" Elijah says before taking a sip of his drink.

Hayley watches him and bites her lip. This might be the perfect time to learn a few things about their father. She knows she will never get anything out of Klaus, but Elijah seems all too open and willing to tell her anything she wants.

"So, what's he like then? Your father?" She asks casually.

Elijah pauses as if he is thinking of the right words to use.

"He is very controlling" is all he says.

"Something else Klaus gets from him then" Hayley says and Elijah smiles.

"Surprising how alike they are considering they loath each other" he says and has a sip of his drink.

Hayley frowns upon hearing this, but then quickly shakes the look of her face, realising that Elijah must think she knows that Klaus and their father hate each other. She knew they weren't on good terms, but she never knew things were that bad between them. But it is still something she should have known. After all, she has been married to Klaus for almost five years now. But it is too late, Elijah has seen her frown and is now giving her a questioning look.

"He hasn't told you, has he?"

"He doesn't really tell me anything" Hayley says and bites her lip.

Elijah's expression changes instantly from a questioning one into a rather sad one. It's suddenly like he understands everything Hayley is going through and feels sorry for her. It's as if he has been through exactly what she is going through. And if he has, maybe he can give Hayley a few tips to help her get through this hard part of her marriage.

"What do you mean?" He asks, his tone is quiet and soft.

"He just doesn't tell me anything. We don't really speak a lot anymore, or spend time together," Hayley says and shrugs like she thinks nothing of it.

"And why is that? If you don't mind me asking."

Hayley refuses to make eye contact with him. It's hard enough for her to try and explain how quickly and anything but gracefully her marriage is failing without having to watch the pity shine out of his eyes at her as she tells him.

"He works a lot. And he keeps secrets and he drinks... We argue a lot."

"What do you argue about?" Elijah asks, staring at her with a certain sadness shining from his eyes.

"At first it was little things, like when he would forget to clean his glass or when I would ignore his calls. But then he started working late. Each night he would come home a little later, and he wouldn't explain why or say sorry, he would just expect me to accept it. So we argued about that a lot. We still do. But we also argue about his business trips. He goes away for four, five days at a time with no explanation, just a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek and he's gone."

"Have you and him discussed any of this?" Elijah asks.

"Of course not. He's never around long enough to have a decent conversation."

Elijah frowns and sighs. A part of him has always known that Klaus would never last in a long term relationship. And he has never been able to imagine his brother being married, especially not before Elijah himself. It's just a shame that they have barely lasted five years together before everything starts to cave in.

"At first I thought it was me. Maybe I was doing something wrong. So I tried to change. But after awhile I realised that it wasn't anything to do with me. Changing things about myself wouldn't help."

A single tear falls and lands on Hayley's knee. She goes to wipe it before any others can follow, but her hand never reaches its destination. It is stopped by Elijah's hand. He grabs her wrist and she looks up to find him staring back at her. He moves his hand to her hand and just simply holds it. Hayley has no idea what to do, she hasn't been in a situation like this with a man, or anyone for so long it's as if she has forgotten how to act.

Hayley suddenly feels stupid. She never cries in front of her friends and family, let alone a complete stranger. Technically he is family, but that is besides the point.

"I'm sorry. I'm not usually like this" Hayley says quietly and Elijah shakes his head.

"There's no need to apologise. I understand that you're going through a lot right now and if you need some space, I can get a room at a local hotel or maybe stay at Rebekah's for the night" he says and Hayley shakes her head.

"No, don't be ridiculous. Don't let me ruin your stay. And anyway, I'm usually a much better host, I'm just... I don't know what I am actually."

"You're perfect just the way you are, and if Niklaus can't see that, then he is a fool" Elijah says, shifting slightly closer to Hayley.

Hayley stares at him for a few seconds, her eyes shimmering with shock, amazement and bewilderment. She has known Elijah for two hours at the most and he is being nicer to her than anyone has in the past couple of years. And here she is pouring her heart out to him as if she has been waiting to do this forever.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Hayley asks and Elijah tilts his head.

"Would you rather I was unpleasant towards you?" He says and Hayley rolls her eyes which brings a small smile to his lips.

"But seriously, why are you being so nice? You don't even know me."

"I know you well enough to say that the past year or so has been hard for you. And judging from what my sister, Freya, has told me, you didn't have the greatest of upbringings either. The last thing you need is for somebody else to force negativity upon you" Elijah says, finishing with a small, sad smile.

Hayley stares at him in shock and utter surprise. What has Freya told Elijah and how did she find out about her past? While she was in England with Klaus and Freya she didn't speak about her past, her rotten mother or her abusing father. So how has Freya found out? Did she hire someone to investigate her? Did Hayley tell her everything while she was drunk? Did Klaus tell Freya the small handful of information that he knows?

"How do you know about my childhood? How does Freya?" Hayley asks as she slowly pulls her hand out of Elijah's hand.

Elijah leans back and tries to think of how he can put it without hurting Hayley even more. It's going to be hard because what his mother did was boarder line stalking and an extreme breach of Hayley's privacy. There isn't really a nice way to put what he is about to say either. It is probably best if he just comes out with it.

"My mother is extremely protective of me and my siblings, Niklaus especially because of how pushed out he was by father. With powerful connections in London, she hired a man to acquire information on you. She wanted to know about your background, if you had a criminal record and if you were what she calls 'acceptable' for Niklaus" Elijah explains.

Hayley stares at him in shock again. She knew their mother was over protective, but she didn't know she was that bad. She understands why she did it. but she would of preferred her to just ask. And she thought their mother was just being nice to her when in reality, it was probably the fact that she pitied Hayley.

"That doesn't explain how Freya knows."

"My mother told Freya all about the contents of what she found. She told her about your childhood and she told her that you do have a criminal record. And then whilst I was visiting Freya, she brought you into one of our conversations. That's how I found out."

Hayley bites her lip nervously.

"How much do you know?" She asks.

"Just that you had a terrible childhood and you were arrested for underage drinking twice" Elijah replies honestly.

Hayley feels a great sense of relief pass over her. She instantly feels more relaxed knowing that a man she has only known for two or three hours does not know her entire life story. He feels bad for her because of the Klaus situation, god knows how bad he would feel if he knew about her tormented upbringing.

"I'm sorry if I've brought up anything you would rather forget" Elijah says, looking down at the floor.

"Trust me, the things I've seen and had done to me, I can never forget about... But don't worry about it. It's in the past and I'm pretty much over it. I'm just not use to talking about it" Hayley says and when he doesn't look up, she reaches out and puts her hand on his thigh.

The second her hand touches him, he meets her gaze. His eyes are filled with a strange sorrow. A kind of sorrow she has never seen before. Hayley rubs his thigh a few times and then gives him a small smile. He goes to say something but Hayley cuts him off.

"Its okay really."

Elijah returns her small smile with one of his own.

"Like I said, I can leave if you like."

"No. I'm actually enjoying the company a lot more than it might seem."

Elijah smiles at her and she bites her lip as she looks down to the floor, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Does Rebekah visit often?" Elijah asks, feeling as if it is the right time to change the subject.

"Yeah actually, she comes and visits at least three days a week" Hayley informs him.

"Is she still having trouble with conceiving a child?"

"Yeah, but her and Marcel had an appointment at the clinic about it yesterday so maybe things have changed. Soon she might be having twins for all we know" Hayley says and Elijah smiles.

"She has always wanted children, even since she was one herself. She use to force us to play happy families" Elijah says, chuckling to himself. Hayley chuckles as well.

"Which part of the family were you?" She asks, smiling in anticipation.

"I always played the part of the father" Elijah says and Hayley's smile grows.

"I can picture it." She pauses. "What about Klaus?"

"The naughty child" he says and Hayley laughs and nods her head.

"I should have guessed. What about Freya?"

Elijah's smile disappears.

"She wasn't with us as a child. She was kidnapped by our mother's sister. We only got her back when she was coming to the end of her teen years" he tells her.

"Why did you aunt take her?" Hayley ask, hoping she doesn't sound nosy.

"She could not have children of her own. She saw taking Freya as her only chance at becoming a parent. And it might of worked if Freya hadn't of ran back to us."

Hayley bites her lip.

"How far did she run to get to you?" She asks.

"From Salford to London. I had never met her before that day" Elijah tells her and she stares at him as he tells his story, clinging onto his every word.

"I was twelve and she was seventeen when she returned. She left when I was still in my mothers stomach, when only she and Finn were alive. She returned to meet Rebekah, Kol, Niklaus and myself for the first time. Niklaus wasn't too fond of her at first but I and Rebekah took a liking to her instantly. She was happy to be home" he finishes.

Hayley smiles and shakes her head in amazement.

"Your a good story teller, you know?"

Elijah chuckles at her.

"Well, I've had awhile to perfect it" he says before he finishes his drink.

Hayley stretches backwards and lets out a big yawn. After being up so unusually early she is exhausted and ready for bed. She checks the clock on the wall behind her. It reads ten to ten. She is shocked and almost refuses to believe that they have really been talking for over five hours.

"I think it's time for bed" Hayley says and smiles at Elijah.

"Your room is on the right at the very end of the corridor, opposite mine if you need anything. Bathroom is right next door to you and the dog usually sleeps in your room, so he will probably already be asleep on your bed... Unless he's on mine."

"That's fine. I like animals" he says with a smirk on his face.

Hayley stands and looks around to see if she is forgetting anything.

"Oh yeah, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, Rebekah usually does. Put whatever you want on TV, if you have emails or work things to do, the laptop is in Klaus' office on his coffee table. And there a loads of books in his office as well if you fancy reading." She looks around again. "I think that's it."

Elijah stands up and puts his hand on her upper arm.

"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine. Now, if you're as tired as you look, go to bed and get some sleep. It will do you the world of good" Elijah says and Hayley can't help but smile.

"Your gonna wait up for Klaus?" Hayley asks and Elijah nods.

Hayley chuckles to herself.

"Good luck with that" she says and strokes his bicep once before she makes her way towards the corridor.

Hayley turns back to see Elijah still stood there watching her. He has a small, but beautiful smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes that is making Hayley get butterflies. She breaks the eye contact and looks down to the floor for a few seconds.

"Night, Elijah" she says and smiles at him.

"Good night, Hayley" he replies and returns her smile.

Hayley takes one last look at him and makes her way down the corridor to her bedroom. She is more happy than she can put into words happy that he decided to come and pay them a visit. Without him, it would just be another lonely night. But Hayley has a feeling that she won't be having many lonely nights any longer.


	5. Chapter 5

As the clock on the wall strikes half past twelve, Klaus enters his apartment. He dumps his bag by the door, kicks his shoes off and then walks over to the couch. He sits down and pours himself a large scotch. He has had a busy day and is not looking forward to breaking the news about the business trip to Hayley. She has never liked him going away, but recently she seems to mind more than usual. Yet she barely calls while he is away. It's as if she misses him but doesn't know how to say it.

The sound of footsteps clipping on the kitchen floor echo through the apartment and Klaus turns around to see Elijah stood, leaning against the wall. Seeing his older brother standing before him after two and a half years brings a smile to Klaus' face, but he isn't quite sure why. After all, it was always him and Elijah who had the largest and most dramatic of fights, and almost always over stupid, little petty things. But that is in the past.

"Brother, long time no see" Klaus says with a big, yet sly smile.

"Long time indeed, Niklaus" Elijah says as he comes to sit down on the single couch with his own glass of scotch in his hand. This annoys Klaus slightly as that is his chair. But as it is Elijah's first night here, he lets it slide.

"So, how were your travels?" Klaus asks, purely to be polite, he doesn't really care.

"Wonderful as always. How have things been here? Hayley says you are an extremely devoted worker."

Klaus takes a long sip of his drink and glares at his brother. He knows exactly where this conversation is heading and he does not need it from him. Elijah always takes sides and it seems to rarely be Klaus' side. Elijah looks up from his drink and stares directly at Klaus, he is challenging him.

"Things are fine here. Always have been, always will be. And I guess devoted is one word to use."

"Is that why you are home so late? You have been at work?" Elijah sounds like he is about to tell a teenage child off for staying out too late yet again. But the reality is, Klaus is not a teenage child and does not need telling off. He was never the child who stayed out late, that was always Kol.

"Yes, Elijah, that is where I was. Do you wish to interrogate me further or shall we just rush into the strip search?" Klaus snaps and downs the rest of his drink.

"Actually, I would rather you kept your clothes on, Niklaus" Elijah says before taking a sip of his own drink.

An unpleasant silence fills the room. No matter how awkward they may feel, they sit through it, both of them too stubborn to be the first to restart the conversation. Klaus clears his throat and pours himself another drink while Elijah watches closely. This is nothing new to them, they have been through worse than a few minutes in complete and utter silence. Finally Elijah speaks up.

"Hayley is a beautiful woman" he says, unashamed of his opinion and not caring how his brother may feel about it.

"That she is," Klaus says and nods his head.

Elijah sighs and finishes his drink. It is clear that he isn't going to get any real conversation out of Klaus tonight so there is no point in trying. He rises out of the chair and makes his way to the kitchen to clear his glass. He cleans out the glass and then grabs a towel and starts to dry it. He looks up and Klaus is stood leaning against the kitchen wall, watching him.

"What did she say to you about me?" Klaus asks, feeling slightly paranoid.

"All she said was that you spend a lot of time working" Elijah lies.

Klaus nods to himself as he takes in the information and then downs his drink.

"She didn't mention my drinking?" He asks the awkward question and Elijah stops drying the glass.

Another minute passes in silence before Elijah speaks.

"No, she didn't. But I can tell that drinking is something you have became extremely fond of."

Klaus clenches the glass in his hand and his other hand curls into a fist. For a few seconds, he strongly contemplates whether to hit Elijah or not. But if he starts he doesn't think he will stop. He thought that out of all of his siblings, Elijah would be the easiest to get along with. Especially after he has had time away from everyone, time to find himself and become someone new, but apparently nothing has changed whatsoever.

Elijah places the now dry glass on the island in the middle of the kitchen and leans his hands against it, palms down. He lets out a deep breath and looks up at Klaus, a strange and uncharacteristic look of anger on his face.

"Why can't you just make her happy, Niklaus?"

Utter shock shows on Klaus' face at hearing this. He then mocks a laugh, but in a split second is serious again and he points at his brother. He might of accepted this before from Elijah, but he is not about to take this in his own house, under his own roof.

"How dare you, come here into my home and accuse me of not being able to keep my own wife happy. You have no right, Elijah, none whatsoever." The aggression in Klaus' tone is enough to scare anyone, but it doesn't scare Elijah. Instead, Elijah seems to rise to this.

"I am not accusing you... I am telling the truth. I can see right through the act she puts on even if you can not. She is not happy, Niklaus and that's your fault" he pauses. "So maybe you should do something about that."

Klaus chooses not to say anymore and leaves the kitchen. He returns to the couch and pours himself yet another drink, not caring if everyone else thinks he drinks too much. He does what he likes, and he likes to drink. Besides, everybody drinks a little too much every now and again.

Slowly, Elijah lets his body fall to the wall and he leans against it. He watches Klaus knock back a fourth drink before moving onto a fifth and sighs. Being a therapist, Elijah knows how to make people pour their hearts out to him, tell him the truth and how to talk to people about their problems. And Klaus also knows what Elijah's line of business is, so why hasn't he turned to him for help? Maybe he isn't aware of his problem. Or maybe he just doesn't want help.

"Go to bed, you don't have to babysit me, Elijah" Klaus snaps, knowing his brother is stood staring at him.

"I wouldn't waste my time babysitting you, Niklaus. I'm simply curious about how many drinks you intend to have tonight."

"As many as I fucking want."

Understanding that his presence is not wanted and Klaus is in no mood to be told that he has an alcohol problem that needs dealing with before it gets out of hand, Elijah heads for his room. He walks slowly down the corridor, hoping that his brother might call him back, or apologise for the harshness in his tone. But he never does. Klaus has never been good at apologies.

As Elijah reaches his room, Hayley pops her head out of her room. He stops dead in his tracks and gives her the best smile he can muster, but she doesn't smile back. She knows Klaus is home and that does not make her feel happy in any way at all.

"He wasn't too mean was he?" Hayley asks and Elijah shakes his head.

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Is he drinking?" She asks the question with only one obvious answer.

Elijah nods and Hayley bites her lip and looks angry.

"How many?"

"He was finishing his fifth when I left him."

"He's ridiculous. He has no reason to come home drinking night after night like an..." the realisation sets in. "Like an alcoholic. Oh my god, Elijah, is he an alcoholic?"

"It's hard to tell, but judging from what you told me and how he was nurturing his drink, I think he is."

Hayley puts a hand over her mouth and closes her eyes for a few seconds. This is not what she wanted, she has never wanted this. An aggressive, alcoholic husband who does nothing but work. She knows what alcoholics are capable of and she doesn't intend to stick around long to find out. Not unless Klaus is willing to get help and soon. All she wanted was a successful marriage. But this is not what she calls a successful marriage. This is nothing like a successful marriage.

"What do we do? How can we help him?" She asks and Elijah sighs and comes to lean against the wall right besides her.

"I can help him. I'm a therapist and have dealt with cases like this before, but Hayley-" she cuts in.

"Then help him. Yeah, he's done some crappy things to me recently and yeah, it started before the alcohol thing, so that's not an excuse, but he still doesn't deserve to have that sort of problem. He could die if he doesn't get help, Elijah."

She finishes and they look at each other for a few seconds. Elijah then breaks the eye contact and looks down to the floor, shaking his head and sighing.

"I can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, Hayley" Elijah says quietly.

"He will want help. He'll realise what it's doing to him and he'll ask for help" Hayley doesn't know who she's trying to convince, but whoever it is, she isn't doing a good job.

"Most alcoholics don't live to see the error of their ways."

"So what? We just watch him kill himself?" Elijah seems shocked by this.

"Of course not. But before I can just start to help him, I need to know if he is actually an alcoholic. I need to see how much he drinks and how frequently. It will take a few days, but it's worth keeping a check on."

"Will he need rehab?" Hayley asks, hoping the answer is no.

"It depends how strong his will power is. And right now, it isn't looking good I'm afraid."

Hayley watches Elijah closely as he stares at the door to his room. She can tell that this is something he is finding hard to process and believe. However, she knows he won't feel that way in a hour or so when Klaus decides to come to bed drunk and maybe try to start an argument, or just fall over everything and start making as much noise as possible.

"I'm gonna try and get to sleep before he comes" Hayley announces.

"Good night" Elijah says and takes one last look at her before he goes into his room and shuts the door behind him. Hayley does the same.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Klaus is sat on the couch with his shirt now fully unbuttoned, his blazer discarded on the floor and he is watching American Horror Story. Something he feels he can relate to very strongly despite the absolute craziness of the show. And just like the man on the TV, in his hand is his eighth glass of scotch.

Today has been a stressful day and he didn't want to deal with a rather moody Elijah when he got home. He would of much rather had dealt with a happy brother who had nothing to say but 'welcome home, brother'. Klaus feels tempted to kick Elijah out on the street, but he knows that doing that would cause another argument with Hayley and he can't be bothered dealing with that as well at the moment.

"If only I knew what I was getting myself into. I would of booked a bloody hotel" Klaus mutters to himself and downs the rest of his drink.

The tumbler sits on the coffee table and he stares at it. Debating if one last glass is what he needs, or if a nice deep sleep will satisfy him. But before he can take himself away and stop his desire to drink, he is reaching for the tumbler. He knows better than this, he watched father struggle with alcohol and felt the effects of it all through his younger years. Despite that he pours more into his glass, pouring until it almost overflows.

Without a seconds thought, he starts to drink. The scars on his lower torso above his belt and on his back should be a reminder of what drinking this much will do to him. But quite frankly, he does not care. Every drop tastes like heaven and he can not get enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Still half asleep, Hayley wonders down the corridor to the kitchen. A wonderful smell awoke her and she is now following it to it's source. She doesn't have a clue what is is, but it smells like it could be something edible. She doubts that Klaus is cooking anything, the last thing he cooked was pancakes and even then he only did enough for himself. Maybe it's Rebekah, she talks about all the amazing dishes she cooks occasionally.

Hayley walks into the kitchen to see Elijah stood at the counter with his back to her. He's wearing black suit pants and the whitest shirt she has ever seen. She pulls her eyes away from him and looks over the kitchen. Everything is spotless. All of the counters have been polished, all dishes and cups that need cleaning have been cleaned to perfection and are now in the process of being put away and the island has two cups of coffee set out with an empty plate.

Slowly, Hayley sits down at the island and watches Elijah finish drying the last of the glasses. It looks like one of Klaus' favourites and he is about to put it with the other ordinary glasses.

"That goes in the next one along."

Elijah turns and looks at Hayley, who takes a sip from one of the cups of coffee. He smiles and then turns back and puts the glass in the correct cupboard. A crackling sound comes from a frying pan and Elijah moves to it quickly and elegantly. Hayley bites her lip and watches him tend to whatever is in the pan. Whatever it is, it can't be as beautiful as the scene which is Elijah cooking.

"Did you sleep well?" Elijah asks as he moves the pan from the heat and picks up a wooden spoon on the counter next to him.

"Yeah, very well actually."

Not use to being asked how she is feeling or how she slept or anything really, Hayley doesn't really know where to take the conversation from here. She hopes that Elijah will continue asking questions or just talking because she has just realised how much she loves the sound of his voice. Unlike Klaus, there is no strong British accent, but still, she finds his voice beautiful.

Realising how inappropriate she is being, Hayley looks away from Elijah and stares down into her coffee. Why is she acting like this and having these thoughts? She is married to his brother, thoughts like these are the last kind of thoughts she should be having about this man. Whether she is slightly attracted to him or not, it has to stop before things go too far.

"What are you making?" Hayley asks as Elijah moves something onto a plate.

"You're about to find out."

Elijah turns to her on the spot with a plate in his hand. Slowly, he places the plate in front of her with a knife and fork. On the plate is something that looks like two small, triangular pies. Hayley has never had anything like this before, but when it smells this good, she is more than willing to try some.

"What is it?" Hayley asks as she picks up her knife and fork.

"French toast stuffed with pieces of banana."

Hayley takes a bite and is transported to heaven. She doesn't think she has ever tasted anything as good as this. She closes her eyes and makes a sound of approval as she takes another bite. Elijah watches her with a small smile on his face. He knew she would enjoy the French toast and he knew it wouldn't of been something she would of had before.

"I'll assume you like it then" Elijah says as he takes his coffee cup and leans back against the counter, continuing to watch her finish the first piece.

"I love it!" Hayley says, with the most enthusiasm she has had about anything in awhile.

The sound of claws clinking against the floors of the apartment fills the silence. A few seconds later, Jack appears in the kitchen. He ignores Elijah's presence and goes straight to Hayley, looking for any scraps. He sits and stares up at her, expecting her to drop a piece for him at any moment like she usually does. Little does he know, Hayley has no intentions of dropping any of her delicious breakfast.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Hayley asks in between bites.

"I learnt a few things from my mother and the rest I picked up whilst travelling" he says as he pats his leg and Jack trots over to him.

Hayley watches Jack jump up at Elijah and Elijah scratches behind the dogs ear. Jack leans into Elijah's touch and Hayley bites her lip, knowing that if that was her, she would do the same thing. She quickly snaps herself out of her daydream before it goes a little too far and continues to focus on eating.

"Do you have any plans for today?"

Elijah looks up at her and Hayley blinks in shock. Is Elijah asking her out?

"No, no plans. Why, have you got something in mind?"

Diverting his gaze back to Jack, Elijah smirks and puts his coffee cup on the counter.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe I could take you out for the day? And I don't have the slightest idea where to go for a decent ice cream" he says and Hayley chuckles at the image of Elijah eating ice cream.

"Ice cream?" she asks as she finishes the last bite of her breakfast.

"Well, it seems necessary with the heat outside."

Hayley leans and looks through the window behind Elijah. He is right, the sun is shining brightly over New Orleans. Hayley bites her lip and looks at Elijah for a few seconds before she smiles and nods.

"Lets go and get some ice cream then. Come on, Jack."

Jack barks and jumps off Elijah, his claws slipping and clipping against the kitchen floor. He chases Hayley out of the kitchen, knowing that she is getting his leash.

Elijah takes Hayley's plate and cup and puts them in the sink. He will clean up when they come back. He takes his blazer from one of the kitchen stools and watches Hayley put Jack's leash on as he pulls his arms through the sleeves. He fastens the top button on his blazer just as Hayley looks over at him with a smile on her face.

"Ready?" She asks and Elijah makes his way over to her and Jack.

Elijah holds Jack's leash while Hayley puts on her jacket and then they leave the apartment. The short minute in the elevator is spent in silence, but not an awkward silence. It is a silence that they could sit in for hours and still feel comfortable.

Once they are outside and the sun is shining on them, they start walking towards Bourbon Street. They walk side by side, elbows knocking each other every now and again. Every time their elbows touch, Hayley is tempted to link her arm through his, but she knows that it would be inappropriate of her and so she doesn't.

"So, where are we going?" Elijah asks as they round a corner.

"Bourbon Street. There's a guy with a cart who sells amazing ice cream there" Hayley informs him.

"You know the city very well then I assume?" He asks and Hayley smiles down at the floor.

"Well, when you've worked in most of the bars around, you get to know the city pretty well."

Elijah raises an eyebrow and looks down at Hayley. He wouldn't of pictured it at first but now that he thinks about it, he can imagine her working in a bar.

"What was that like?"

Hayley sighs and tries to find the words to describe her experiences.

"It was nice. It could get really busy at holidays and weekends, but I still enjoyed it."

"What was the best part of the job?" Elijah asks as he watches Jack walk ahead.

"Meeting new people and getting to know the regulars" Hayley says and moves closer to Elijah as a crowd of six or seven people come there way.

The crowd split and go either side of Elijah and Hayley. One of them, a tall man with very broad shoulders barges into Hayley, causing her to fall backwards, but instead of hitting the floor, she hits a strong chest. Elijah places one hand on her waist and the other on her upper arm as he helps her gain her balance again. Hayley turns to him and smiles, he returns her smile and they continue to walk.

After another twenty minutes of walking, they reach Bourbon Street. Like usually it is almost impossible to get through the large crowds that continue all the way to the end of the street. Hayley sighs in frustration and pulls Jack closer to her by his leash before she holds her hand out to Elijah. Without hesitation he takes her hand and lets her drag him through the crowds.

Hayley comes to a sharp halt, making Jack almost choke from the harsh pull on his collar and making Elijah collide into the back of her. He mutters an apology and Hayley nods towards the white cart in front of them. The man behind the cart is preparing two blue ice creams for the little boys in front. Hayley smiles at the sight of the blue ice cream; she loves the bubblegum flavor.

"What do you want then?" Hayley asks and turns to Elijah as she pulls some money out of her pocket.

Elijah frowns at the money in her hand and pushes her hand to her stomach.

"Please, Hayley, keep your money."

"I was paying for me."

"That's not necessary" Elijah says and steps up to the man behind the cart.

The man behind the cart smiles at them and grabs two tubs. He recognises Hayley and nods to her, Hayley nods back to him with a smile on her face as she moves so she is stood next to Elijah.

"What can I get ya?" The man asks, his smile never fading from his face.

"A vanilla for me and a..." Elijah turns to Hayley.

"Chocolate, please."

Elijah turns back to the man and pulls out his wallet.

"And a chocolate for the lady."

Hayley covers her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing. Never in her twenty-five years on this planet has she been called 'lady'. And to her surprise, she likes it. Especially coming from Elijah.

"Here you go, that's three dollars please, sir" the man says and places the two tubs on a small counter sticking out from the rest of the cart.

Elijah pulls ten dollars from his wallet and hands it to the man.

"Keep the change" he says and takes the tubs.

Hayley bites her lip in shock. He has just gave the ice cream man seven dollars in change. Hayley has never done that in her life, she's never even given anyone five dollars in change.

"Shall we sit down?" Elijah asks and nods towards a bench nearby.

"Sure" Hayley says and leads the way.

Once she reaches the bench, Hayley ties Jack's leash around the arm of the bench and then sits down, crossing one leg over the other. Elijah sits down next to her and hands the tub with chocolate ice cream in to her. Hayley mutters a thank you and tucks straight in to her tub. Elijah watches her take a bite and close her eyes, he assumes she likes it and a small smile appears on his face. Her eyes reopen and he quickly looks away from her and acts as if he has been enjoying his own ice cream the whole time in case she glances at him.

"Do you like it?" Hayley asks as she scoops up some more ice cream.

"Yes, very rich in flavor" Elijah replies and Hayley chuckles.

Elijah looks at her, wondering why she is laughing, with a smirk on his face.

"What?" He asks and she hakes her head.

"Where did you learn to speak like that?"

"Like what?" Elijah frowns.

"Like so well spoken. Did you have a tutor?"

Elijah leans back and has another scoop of ice cream before he speaks.

"I went to a private school and I also studied quite a lot at home. In our family home we had a library full of a wide variety of books, some of them in different languages. In that room I taught myself three languages."

"Seriously? What languages?" Hayley asks in amazement.

"French, Spanish and Italian" Elijah informs her.

Hayley turns to face him, folding her leg under her in the process. He turns slightly as well and gives her a small smile, which she returns before she finishes the last of her ice cream.

"Say something in French" Hayley says and Elijah sighs and puts his tub down as he thinks of what to say.

He clears his throat and gives her a quick smile.

"Aujourd'hui est un beau jour" Elijah speaks the language fluently and in the most relaxed tone Hayley has ever heard. If Hayley didn't know him, she would swear that he was French himself.

"Okay, I speak French but I'm not that good. What did you say?" Hayley asks and Elijah chuckles silently.

"I said that today is a beautiful day."

"You're right" Hayley says as she looks up at the clear, blue sky.

After a few seconds of silence, Hayley moves closer to Elijah and pulls one knee up to her chest. She hugs her leg and smiles at Elijah who is watching her, wondering what she is doing.

"What about Spanish?" She asks and Elijah moves his arm so it is on the back of the bench behind Hayley.

"Qué hay de español?"

"What does that mean?" Hayley asks, looking at Elijah with such admiration.

"What about Spanish" Elijah tells her and she chuckles.

"Say something else" Hayley says with a big smile plastered to her face.

"Hello, Hayley" Elijah says, knowing that she meant say something in Spanish.

Hayley tuts and then throws her head back onto his arm and lets out a small laugh. Elijah smiles at her and touches her hair with his hand. It's so much softer than he imagined and he wants to touch it all day, but he knows he that it would be wrong to do so.

"Hayley?"

She sits up and looks him in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"Su sonrisa es más brillante que el sol" Elijah says, his fingers still playing with small pieces of her hair.

"What does that mean?"

"Your smile is brighter than the sun" Elijah says quietly and Hayley bites her lip as she feels herself blushing.

Elijah smirks at Hayley who's cheeks are now as red as a tomato. She runs a hand through her hair and giggles when his smirk grows. She huffs and hides her face on his shoulder for a few seconds. Elijah wishes she would hide her face there forever, but the moment is practically over before it has begun.

Hayley sits up and runs her hand through her hair again.

"What about Italian?" She asks and then bites her lip, suddenly feeling self conscious about her rosy red cheeks.

Elijah stares at her as if he is trying to find some inspiration.

"Penso che tu sia la donna più bella che abbia mai visto" he says finally.

Hayley waits for Elijah to tell her what he has just said, but he doesn't. He simply goes back to looking around at all of the people coming and going from bars and restaurants. Hayley nudges him to get him attention and he looks back at her, confused.

"What does that mean then?" She asks, wondering if it will be as beautiful as what he said in Spanish.

"I'm afraid you'll have to find that one out for yourself."

Elijah stands up and straightens his suit jacket. Hayley watches him for a few seconds, just admiring the view that has been placed in front of her.

"Where are you going?" Hayley asks and Elijah moves to untie Jack's leash.

"Well, I thought we could take Jack back to the apartment and then maybe go out for something to eat later" he says and takes a hold of Jack's now loose leash.

Hayley doesn't know what to say. When was the last time she went out for a meal? That long ago she can't remember. And the first meal she gets asked to go on for months, maybe years, is with her husband's unbelievably handsome brother. She considers saying no, but she doesn't exactly have anything on tonight.

"Yeah sure. Where did you have in mind?" Hayley asks as she stands up.

"I was hoping you would know somewhere" Elijah says as they set off walking.

Hayley smiles to herself as they walk side by side once again.

"I know the perfect place actually."


	7. Chapter 7

Slowly Hayley comes to stand before her mirror and swishes from side to side, admiring her dress from every angle. The dress is knee length and is navy blue with two thin straps. It fits her perfectly and clings to her every curve, especially her waist. She bites her lip and watches the dress swishes in the mirror with her as she moves slightly, unsure if she is over or under dressed for where she is planning to take Elijah.

That thought brings her to wonder what Elijah will be wearing tonight. Will he wear the same suit from today or will he have changed into something more luxurious? Hayley hopes that he is wearing his finest suit so she can admire him for the rest of the evening. She almost goes into a vivid daydream about how wonderful tonight's suit might be, but quickly discards her thoughts when she sees Jack trot in through the mirror.

Jack stops once he is stood only a few feet from Hayley and sits down, it is as if he himself is admiring her and judging her beauty. Hayley runs her hands down the front of her dress and smiles at her four-legged friend. She slowly moves closer to him and crouches in front of him, knowing that he will have picked up on the signs and will now know that she is about to go out and leave him.

"I won't be long, I promise" she says as she cups the dog's face. Jack makes a small whining sound and Hayley smiles at him again as she moves her lips to his face and plants a kiss on top of his head.

"Besides, Klaus will probably be home before me" Hayley says as she stands and heads for the door. The dog wines again and she stops and looks back at Jack. "You're right, he probably won't be. But you'll be fine, you always are. See you later, Jack."

Hayley walks down the corridor to the living room where she knows Elijah will be waiting for her. She feels anxious about going out with him despite having a wonderful day down town with him. But going for dinner is a lot different than going for an ice cream and she knows that. Hence why she is feeling slightly nervous as well. More nervous than when Klaus first took her out for that matter.

Hayley rounds the corner into the living room and sees Elijah sat on the couch with a glass of scotch resting on his knee. The sight is much more beautiful than Hayley expected. Elijah has changed his shirt and is now also wearing a very expensive looking tie. The shirt has a black trim going down the shirt besides the buttons and around the edge of the collar. And the tie is also black but with one small, gold diamond shape on it, like the kind of diamond seen when playing cards.

Hayley suddenly feels under dressed.

Elijah's eyes find her and he can't help but stand to welcome her. His mouth opens slightly in amazement as he looks over her, starting with the inch high black heels she has chosen to wear before moving onto the the dress which hugs her body perfectly. Almost too perfectly. His eyes finally meet hers and he smiles at her.

"You look amazing" Elijah says and Hayley bites her lip to try and stop her smile showing as she looks down and pushes a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Elijah knows he shouldn't stare but he cannot help it; she is mesmerising. And right now in this moment, she is the only true source of light shining in the room. Even if all of the lights were out, he would be able to see her shine. But the reality of the situation invades his thoughts once again. She is his brother's wife and he has no right to look at her in such a way. Elijah looks down to the floor for a few seconds while he composes himself.

"Shall we get going?" Hayley asks and Elijah gives her a small smile before he gestures towards the front door.

Hayley returns his smile and walks out of the apartment, Elijah follows her out of the door. He shuts the door behind them just as the elevator arrives at their floor. The doors open and there stood in the elevator is Rebekah.

Both Elijah and Hayley freeze. They stare at each other for a few seconds and then Rebekah smiles and turns to Elijah. Rebekah's face is filled with pure joy as she jumps into her older brother's arms. Elijah catches her and smiles into her shoulder. Hayley also smiles as she watches the siblings reunite.

"Elijah! What are you doing here?! You never told me you were coming to stay" Rebekah says and holds Elijah tighter for a few seconds before letting go completely.

"Yes well, it was a rushed decision. One that I am not regretting" Elijah says with a smirk and looks at Hayley as he speaks the final few words. Hayley smiles and looks away to prevent herself from blushing in front of Rebekah.

"Well, you should have told me! I would of been right over to greet you. I hope Hayley and Nik are treating you well, if not, tell me and I'll have a word" Rebekah says and winks. Elijah smiles at her.

"Everything is fine, thank you, Rebekah. In fact, Hayley has been a wonderful host, I can't exactly say the same about Niklaus but he did make an effort."

"What has the horrible bastard done now?" Rebekah asks and Hayley looks to the floor and chuckles. Elijah smiles at the floor and then back at his sister.

"Nothing that I can not handle myself. What are you doing here anyway?" Elijah asks his sister.

"I'm here for our weekly girly night, but I guess I've been replaced" she says and looks over to Hayley.

"We can binge drink and watch cheesy movies tomorrow, I promise" Hayley says and Rebekah smiles at her friend.

"Good because I have a lot to fill you in on" Rebekah says and then notices the lovely dress Hayley is wearing and smiles. "And where are you two off?"

Hayley smirks and pushes a piece of hair behind her ear as she looks to Elijah for him to explain their antics for the night.

"I offered to take Hayley out for the evening" he says and Rebekah looks at Hayley with raised eyebrows and a small smirk on her lips.

"Well, aren't you a lucky one. Going anywhere nice? I'm guessing very nice from that beautiful dress you're wearing" Rebekah says and Hayley bites her lip again.

"Well, you know me. It's all or nothing" Hayley replies and Rebekah laughs. She misses having this Hayley around, the Hayley who will laugh and joke with her.

"Come on then, I'll walk you down to your car."

They all step onto the elevator and Elijah pushes the button for the ground floor. The elevator jumps to life.

"Is your's that fancy Jaguar out front?" Rebekah asks Elijah, referring to his car.

"Yes, dazzling isn't she?" Elijah responds and Rebekah nods in agreement.

"Dazzling indeed."

A slightly awkward silence fills the elevator as it takes them down the final floor. A silence that was not there this morning when Elijah and Hayley were riding the lift alone.

The doors open and Rebekah is quick to step off as she complains about hating small spaces and wishing they had stairs. Hayley steps off next, her arms folded as she walks, and finally Elijah who is quick to catch up with the two girls.

Once they are outside, Rebekah turns to Hayley and holds out her arms. Hayley smiles at her and walks into her friend's arms for a goodbye hug. Elijah smiles at Rebekah from over Hayley's shoulder and she smiles back before pulling away from Hayley and walking to him.

"I'll see you both tomorrow then, enjoy the rest of your night" Rebekah says before hugging Elijah.

"You too, sister" Elijah says as Rebekah starts to walk away from them.

They stand in silence for a few seconds as they both watch Rebekah walk up the street to her car. Now that Rebekah is gone, the silence is suddenly comfortable again. Both find it strange but don't comment on it. Once Rebekah has got in her car, Elijah turns to Hayley and smiles.

"Shall we?" He asks and Hayley follows him to his Jaguar XJ parked only a few meters away.

Elijah goes around to the passenger side with her and opens the door for her to climb into the car. She mutters a thank you and climbs into his car. She looks around the fancy car as she straps herself into the seat. The smell of the black leather seats intoxicates her while the feel of the seat on her bare legs makes her want to wriggle with a childish joy. Besides Klaus' car, she has never been in a car this fancy, and even Klaus' Range Rover Evoque is nowhere near as fancy as this.

The driver's door opens and Elijah gets into the car. Hayley watches him put his seat belt on and then start the car. He presses on the accelerator and the car roars like a lion. Elijah does it again and looks at Hayley with a smile on his face, Hayley shakes her head and laughs quietly. Elijah then pulls out of the space and heads towards the address Hayley gave him earlier.

After parking the car, Elijah steps out of car and goes around to Hayley's side. He opens the door for her and she steps out with a smile on her face as she looks at the restaurant across the street from them. Broussard's restaurant. The one place in New Orleans Hayley has always wanted to eat at but never been given the opportunity. She would of just came alone but even she is not confident enough to come to a place like this and dine alone.

As they cross the road, Elijah's hand comes to rest on Hayley's lower back, as if he is guiding her to the safety of the pavement. She doesn't think much of his hand being there until she remembers that she is married. But she doesn't have to worry about it for long because as soon as they are on the pavement, Elijah's hand drops from her back and he holds the door open for her.

Hayley steps inside and is hit with the most exotic and magnificent smells she has ever come across in her life, aside from the smell of Elijah's French toast this morning. Elijah comes to stand next to her and looks down at her while she looks around. He watches her with a look of adoration for a few more seconds before he steps up to the small service desk. Hayley follows slowly.

"Hello, sir, how can I help you and madam this evening?" The waiter on the desk asks with a dazzling smile.

"I have reservations for two under Mikaelson" Elijah says and gives Hayley a quick smile before watching the waiter look through his rather larger book of names.

"Ah, there you are. Elijah Mikaelson is it?" He asks as he picks up his pen off the desk and goes to tick the box saying arrival.

"Yes, that's me" Elijah replies.

The waiter ticks the box and then dings a bell on the side of the table before taking two menus from a pile on the side. Another waiter darts around the tables and comes over. He comes to a halt at the service desk and takes the menus from the first waiter before smiling at Elijah and Hayley.

"Hello, I'm Darren and I'll be your waiter for the evening. Would you like to follow me to your table?" Darren doesn't give them a chance to answer as he is off again.

Elijah takes Hayley's hand and they follow Darren through the crowded room and outside where there are more tables and chairs set up around a small fountain. Cords of lights hang above the area from the roofs of buildings around and the water in the fountain sprinkles into the air like gold dust before falling back into the fountain. Hayley can't help but smile as she looks at the secluded corner Darren is leading them to, the corner which has a perfect view of everything and everyone here.

As Darren reaches their table he comes to a sharp stop and turns to them.

"I hope dining outdoors is not a problem?" He asks and pulls a chair out for Hayley.

Hayley shakes her head and smiles at him before she sits on the chair and shuffles closer to the table. Elijah opens the button on his blazer and then sits down opposite. Darren gives them a menu each.

"I'll give you some time to choose your meals. I'll be back in five minutes" Darren says and then walks off, leaving them alone together.

Elijah opens his menu and starts to scan his options. Hayley looks around for at the different kinds of people and at the lovely decor for a few more seconds before she does the same. Hayley looks up from her menu for a second and looks across at Elijah to find him already looking at her. She smiles at him and looks back at her menu, but he does not look away.

"What is it?" Hayley asks with a small smirk on her face and Elijah shakes his head.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Elijah looks back down at his menu. "I was just going to comment on how beautiful you look under the moonlight."

Hayley bites her lip and can feel her checks heating up; she is blushing again. She is starting to lose track of how many times she has blushed today just from Elijah's lovely, little comments. He glances at her for a second and sees her cheeks glowing a slightly brighter red than usual. This brings a small smile to his face.

"What are you having?" Hayley asks as she finally gets the courage to speak up again.

Elijah sighs and places the menu on the table in front of him.

"The roasted breast of chicken. You?" He asks as he looks at their surroundings properly for the first time tonight.

"I think I'll have the filet mignon... What ever that is."

Elijah smiles at her last comment and Hayley joins him in admiring the surroundings. After letting her eyes wonder around the area aimlessly she settles them on a couple about six tables away. They look so in love, holding hands over the table and tangling legs under the table. Hayley sighs and rests her head on her hands as she watches them. Elijah notices her watching them and feels like he should comfort her, but he doesn't know how.

Noticing the she is focusing more on how the couple are touching rather than what they might be saying, he very carefully and slowly moves his leg towards hers. He gently places his leg next to hers and then lets his leg fall to the right slightly so that it is resting against her crossed legs. Not expecting this, Hayley's heart beats a little faster and she quickly looks at Elijah to see him looking right back at her.

Darren returns with a pen and pad.

"Hello again, ready to order?" He asks, smiling at them.

"The filet mignon and the roasted chicken breast, without the oysters please" Elijah orders and Darren scribbles it down quickly. "Can we also have a bottle of your most recommended wine and a scotch."

Darren scribbles down the drinks and then smiles at them again.

"Be right back with your meals and drinks, sir."

Darren charges off again.

"You don't like oysters?" Hayley asks, rather shocked.

"No, when I was a child me and one of my brothers ate an excessive amount of them and were sick for the entire week. Now whenever I have them I feel nauseous" Elijah explains.

Hayley nods in acknowledgement and then looks away from Elijah before returning her gaze to him and biting her lip. Her mind has gone blank. She can't think of a single thing to ask him that could spark up a conversation, which is unusual for her considering she is a very talkative person.

"Do you have any siblings?" Elijah asks and Hayley silently thanks him for starting a conversation.

"No, I'm an only child" she tells him.

"Did you enjoy being an only child?" He asks and a shiver runs through Hayley at the remembrance of her childhood.

"Not really. I kinda wish I had a brother or sister, but I know that it was better that I didn't" Hayley tells him, avoiding eye contact.

Elijah would like to ask why but he suddenly recalls their conversation from the first night he arrived and it doesn't take much for him to put the pieces together. He knows an abuse victim when he sees one; he watched Niklaus get beaten pretty much every week by their father as they were growing up. Not only that, but he has been beat a few times himself and he knows what that kind of impact that can leave on someone and on their life.

"You're probably right."

Hayley's head snaps up and she blinks in shock. Her mind is suddenly running wild with thoughts and questions such as did she say too much? Does he know? And if he does know, does he think any less of her? Of course, she knows he would not think less of her for that, but for a second she can not help but think he might.

"I don't think I would of been able to watch what happened to me happen to someone else" Hayley says quietly and looks down at the table again.

Elijah watches her carefully and chooses his words just as carefully.

"I understand... and I can empathise" Elijah says before looking off into the distance, looking anywhere but at Hayley.

Hayley watches him and understands exactly what he means. She can't help but want to reach out to him and share her story with him and be there for him when he is ready to tell his story. But she knows this is not the time or place for sharing such a story. Instead she uncrosses her legs and wraps them around his leg that is closest to her. He meets her gaze and she gives him a small smile.

"Let's enjoy the rest of the night. We can talk about this another time" Hayley says and Elijah nods twice in agreement.

Darren and another waiter suddenly appear. Darren is carrying the two meals and the other waiter is carrying the bottle of wine, two wine glasses and a scotch. They place everything as perfectly as they possible can on the table and then the other waiter leaves, but Darren does not.

"I'll come back and check on you later. I hope you enjoy your meals" Darren says and then leaves Elijah and Hayley to tuck in.


	8. Chapter 8

The night light shines down on the car as Elijah pulls into his parking spot outside of Hayley's apartment building. He puts the car in park and pulls the keys out of the ignition before looking over at Hayley. She has had a wonderful night, one of the best she thinks she has ever had, and she is now slowly slipping into a deep sleep in the passenger seat. A small smile plays on Elijah's face as he watches her try to hold her eyes open. But she just can't manage it. Her eyes close.

Sighing, Elijah opens his door and steps out, shoving the car keys into his pocket as he does. He shuts his door as gently as he can so that he does not wake Hayley. Elijah then walks around to the passenger door and opens the door, wrapping an arm around Hayley quickly so that her sleeping figure does not fall from the car. He removes her seat belt from around her and puts his right arm under her legs and then lifts her out of his car effortlessly.

Elijah shuts the car door as gently as he possible can with his knee and walks towards the apartment building, knowing that his car will automatically lock itself after a few minutes. He walks to the elevator and clicks the button. While waiting for the lift to come down to the lobby, Hayley nuzzles her head into the space between Elijah's head and shoulder, her hand also clutches at the lapel of his blazer. He looks down at her with concern; he fears that she is having a nightmare. However, his fears are eradicated when a little smile appears on her face, just as the elevator arrives.

Elijah feels an enormous sense of joy having Hayley in his arms. He knows she is not his and he has absolutely no right to feel such things, but he just can not help it. He is surprised himself at how in the small amount of time spent with her he has been able to grow so attached to her, yet he can not see himself ever regretting it. Not even if his brother was to find out about his emotions. There would be no way to prove how he felt anyway and he would never admit it to his brother.

The elevator takes Elijah and a sleeping Hayley to the apartment.

The doors open and Elijah steps out of the elevator. He looks at the door for a few moments, knowing that the only person with a key is Hayley and that key is hidden away in her bra. Elijah has no intentions of going looking for the key so he hopes that his brother is in and steadies Hayley in his arms before he leans towards the door and knocks. There is no sign of life, so Elijah goes to knock again. Just as he is about to knock a loud bang comes from inside the apartment.

Seconds later Klaus opens the door. He stands there in his black boxer shorts and a grey top with a glass of bourbon in one hand. He smirks as he steps aside for Elijah to enter the apartment with his unconscious wife. Elijah ignores his brother and strides past him, heading straight for Hayley's bedroom. He stops when Klaus speaks.

"I wouldn't put her in the bed if I was you. She'll get real pissed if she gets any of that make up on the pillows."

Elijah considers what Klaus has said for a few seconds and then sees the logic behind it. He turns around and walks over to the couch and slowly lowers Hayley down. He assumes Klaus was sitting there because he gets a scowl from him as he lies Hayley down.

"Where are your blankets?" Elijah asks his brother.

Klaus takes a sip from his drink, plops down on one of the single-seated couches and then nods towards the box room door. Elijah walks straight to the box room. He scans the room quickly and sees two blankets folded up neatly on a shelf on one of the walls. He takes one and returns to the living room area.

As careful as he can be, Elijah unfolds the blanket and drapes it over Hayley. He is fully aware of Klaus watching him the entire time but he does not acknowledge his awareness. He knows that the slightest comment will cause an argument.

Elijah turns to where his brother is sat and watches him pour another bourbon. Elijah takes a glass from off the coffee table and takes the decanter from his brother before pouring himself a glass. Klaus continues to watch him as if he is transfixed and can not look at anything else. Elijah ignores his brother's stares and takes a seat in the other single chair opposite Klaus.

They sit in complete silence, but the amount of tension makes up for the lack of conversation.

Klaus is the first to speak.

"Well... where have you two been?" He asks before taking a small sip of his bourbon.

Elijah seems to think very carefully about his answer before he replies. It is as if he knows that the slightest wrong word or phase will set his brother off, and after a lovely evening with Hayley, Elijah does not want one of Klaus' moods to ruin his night.

"I asked Hayley to accompany me for a meal. I hope that isn't a problem?" Elijah makes it sound like a question, but both brothers know that it is not.

"No problem, brother. None at all." Klaus takes a swig from his glass. "Did you enjoy yourselves?"

The tone Klaus is using makes it obvious that he is not really interested if they enjoyed their meals. And as the brothers make eye contact the amount of hostility running throughout the room seems to increase massively.

"It was wonderful actually, thank you for asking" Elijah answers before downing his drink in one and then leans forwards before placing the glass on the coffee table.

Once he has sat back in his seat, Elijah looks over at Hayley's sleeping body again. Klaus watches him watch his wife and his grip on his glass tightens slightly. He has seen that look in his brother's eyes before and he knows where it leads. And he will not accept any of that behaviour with his wife or under his roof.

"She looks lovely, doesn't she?" Klaus asks, looking for trouble.

Elijah does not respond. He continues to look at Hayley.

"Aren't you privileged, being able to spend an entire night with a woman as beautiful as her?" Klaus smirks to himself as he asks.

Elijah reverts his gaze to his younger brother and stares at him, making it clear that he will not be intimidated or made to feel uncomfortable. Klaus stares back with a look of evil amusement: a look of torment. It reminds Elijah of their father and he thinks hard about his reply whilst staring at his brother and finally he gives Klaus a quick smile before answering.

"If you believe I am so privileged as to go out with a beautiful woman such as Hayley, then why do you not take her out more often yourself, Niklaus?"

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

Elijah, now sitting tall and sticking his chest and chin out slightly to show he is prepared for whatever his brother may throw at him, stares at Klaus with his own look of amusement. He is amused by Klaus' lack of ability to reply. And Klaus knows this. And this annoys him.

Glaring at his older brother, Klaus downs the remaining bourbon in his glass and then reaches for the decanter to pour himself an eighth glass. Well, eighth if you don't include the five he had after work in a local bar with Marcel. Klaus places the decanter back on the coffee table once his glass is almost brimming with booze and then sits back in his seat. He studies Elijah, looking for anything he can comment on or any weak point he can take advantage of, but he finds nothing.

"Is it really necessary for you to have another glass, brother?" Elijah asks as he watches Klaus take a sip from his glass.

"It's about as necessary as it was for you to take my wife out on a date" Klaus says and is filled with pride by the brilliancy of his own response.

"So you admit it is unnecessary of you to drink so much so frequently?" Elijah asks, ignoring the comment about Hayley and Klaus glares at him once again.

"I'm enjoying myself, Elijah. If you and Hayley can go out and spend a fortune on a fancy meal, why can't I enjoy a few drinks?" Klaus asks rhetorically.

"I paid for everything, you have no need to worry" Elijah responds, then realising how that must have sounded to Klaus.

"Let me guess, fancy food, dazzling drinks and chivalrous conversations all night long. Sounds like the sort of evening that could only be arranged by the courteous and honourable Elijah Mikaelson" Klaus mocks, waving his arms as he goes on.

Elijah stares at his brother with a look of disgust and disgrace. Elijah is many things and a gentleman is one of them things and Klaus knows that. Klaus knows that Elijah takes great pride in his appearance and his manors. In fact, he is one of the only one of his siblings to have such wonderful manors, most of the others are rude or unable to say a single sentence without cursing. And now Elijah feels disrespected and insulted.

Elijah leans forwards.

"Niklaus, you are drunk. If you were not in this state then I would happily have this argument with you, but for Hayley's sake, I suggest we leave it at this. We can continue this in the morning when there isn't a risk of waking Hayley" Elijah says and stands.

Hayley moves slightly as if she knows she has been mentioned, but does not wake. Elijah's eyes dart to her as she moves and when she stills again he looks back to his brother. Klaus is smirking at Elijah, knowing that Elijah has no intention to continue the argument, he is just saying they will continue it tomorrow to stop Klaus from going on. But Klaus would rather finish it now.

"Oh, come on, Elijah. Don't wuss out, come back and defend your wounded pride" Klaus says loudly as Elijah is about to make his way down the corridor to his room.

Elijah stops on the spot and shakes his head. He knows exactly what Klaus is doing and he refuses to fall for such childish games. He looks at Klaus with an empty expression. He looks neither angry or upset. He is simply unfazed by it all.

"I refuse to take part in your tiresome, tormenting games, Niklaus. Please do try to continue to drink the rest of your night away without waking Hayley" Elijah says and walks to his room.

Klaus makes a small growling sound and downs the bourbon in his glass. He never thought that having Elijah stay would be something he found so extremely hard to cope with. They use to be so close as children. They were practically best friends. But times change and so do people. They are both clearly two completely different people who no longer seem to see eye to eye.

Slowly and rather inelegantly, Klaus leans forwards and puts his empty glass on the coffee table. He sits staring at the floor for a few seconds before he looks to the left where his wife is sleeping on the couch. He can tell by the look in Elijah's eyes that something is going on between the pair, but he still does not understand how it escalated. Elijah has been here for three days and he is suddenly the apple of Hayley's eye.

Finding himself jealous and strongly disliking the feeling, Klaus clenches both fists tightly and stares down at them. He tries to ignore the anger taking over his body but within seconds it has taken over his entire body and before he can stop himself he is lashing out at something. His glass hits the wall and smashes into hundreds of tiny pieces. He doesn't even flinch as is explodes against the wall, he simply watches it as though he is just an observer.

Surprisingly Hayley does not wake. She moves slightly but does not wake.

Knowing Hayley will be annoyed enough with him smashing one glass, he gets up and stumbles to bed before he breaks anything else and creates more reason for another argument. After what seems like hours, Klaus finally reaches the warmth of his bed. He looks at the bedside table and sees his calendar. His business vacation is in a day and Hayley still doesn't know.

Klaus sighs and turns his head away from the calendar.

"That's something else she'll fuckin' kick off over" he mutters to himself as a sheet of blackness slowly drapes and covers him and drags him into the dream land.


	9. Chapter 9

Hayley wakes when she feels something wet press against her cheek. She jumps back when she opens her eyes and sees Jack's nose sniffing around her face, his tongue about to dart out and wet her nose. She smiles at him and strokes him on the head before she looks around to find herself in the living room on the couch. This would usually be the part of the morning where she wonders how she got there after a drunken night out with Rebekah and she would try to fill in her blank memories... but not this morning.

She can remember everything, from the beautiful ride in Elijah's Jaguar, to the lovely meal they had with the delicious ice cream for dessert, to the calm, relaxing car ride home. And she loved it all. Every part of it was perfect. If it was a first date there would never be a second because she would have been his from the second they sat down in the restaurant. But it wasn't a first date... was it?

Hayley shakes her head and stands, running her hand across Jack's back before she moves towards the kitchen. He follows Hayley into the kitchen and goes to sit by his bowl, letting her know he is hungry. Hayley watches him for a few seconds and frowns at him.

"You've already been fed, Jack, I know he doesn't do much, but I know he never forgets to feed you before work," Hayley says to Jack before making the short trip to the fridge.

She opens the fridge and pulls out a can of Pepsi before making her way towards the corridor so she can go and shower. She rearranged her movie night with Rebekah for tonight as she was out with Elijah last night. Letting Rebekah down was not exactly the right thing to do, but she wouldn't of changed anything about last night, not even the slightest detail.

Hayley walks into her en-suite bathroom, drinking her can and quickly removes last nights dress and her underwear. She switches the shower on and jumps under the hot, steamy water. With last night on her mind, she closes her eyes and looks up to the shower head so the water runs straight down from her head to her toes.

Just as she wraps a towel around herself she hears Jack start to bark. She expects him to run in with a toy or something, that would explain his barking, but he doesn't. He just continues to bark. Hayley sighs and makes her way towards where she can hear him barking from: the living room.

She walks in to find Rebekah petting Jack.

"You're early for a movie night" Hayley comments as Rebekah drops her handbag by the door and looks up at her from her position on the floor with Jack.

"Well, we have a lot of talking to do before we start" Rebekah says, a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Hayley assumes that means good news and quickly takes a seat on the couch, patting the seat next to her and indicating for Rebekah to also come and sit.

Rebekah finishes with Jack and stands before joining Hayley on the couch, not sitting too close as Hayley is still in her towel and is still quite damp from her shower. Jack however, doesn't mind as he trots over and starts to lick her still wet legs. Hayley tries to move away at first but finds it pointless when he simply follows her.

"So, how did the doctors go?" Hayley asks, breaking the silence.

"Good and bad". Rebekah sits back and crosses one leg over the other. "There's nothing wrong with me, I can have children, but apparently luck is not on our side. The doctor says we have a very narrow window if we want to start trying this month, which we definitely do."

"So, that's it? You don't have to do anything?" Hayley asks, surprised that the only advice Rebekah has been given is to try having sex on certain days considering how long she and Marcel have been trying for a baby.

Rebekah nods. "Apparently that's all there is to it: picking the right day."

Hayley smiles at the thought of Rebekah having a baby. She would be an extremely protective mother but still a wonderful one. She has always shown a kindness to children that she struggles to show to a lot of other people. A kindness she seems to reserve for family.

"Anyway, I think we have more important things for you to worry about..." Hayley frowns and makes eye contact with Rebekah. "The way you and Elijah were looking at each other yesterday for example".

Unsure of how to act, Hayley opens her mouth to try and explain, but she realises she has no idea what she is explaining. Nothing happened between them and she doesn't plan to let anything happen, even if she does have a little crush on Elijah. She wouldn't do that to Klaus, even if they aren't on the best of terms right now. Hayley looks down at Jack as she speaks, scared to give any confirmation of her rather embarrassing and immature crush.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's going on, we just went out for some food" Hayley says, but she knows it will take more than that to convince Rebekah.

"The way you were both dressed and the way you were looking at each other suggested otherwise, darling" Rebekah says, smirking.

"Rebekah-" Hayley goes to object but her sister-in-law cuts in.

"Don't worry, I know nothing would ever come of it... I'm just saying be careful. You know what Klaus is like and I can tell you that he and Elijah have had enough fights over girls to last them a lifetime, they don't need to go through that again" Hayley sits up slightly and looks at Rebekah.

"They've fought over girls before?" Hayley questions.

Rebekah stares at the wall as if she is having a very serious debate with herself for a few seconds. She knows she shouldn't really be telling Hayley about this, she knows Elijah would not be happy at all if he found out Rebekah had said anything. But Hayley deserves to know if she is about to get caught up in the brothers rows.

"Elijah dated this girl in high school for about three years. They planned to graduate together and travel the world together... They were in love, well, Elijah was. We didn't think anything would ever break them apart actually, but Klaus did. He was fourteen at the time and had started going through some... changes". Rebekah pauses as if looking for the right way to phase what she is about to say.

"He had a crush on Elijah''s girlfriend. He had done for awhile and he started to act on it. He made little comments here and there, flirted with her when Elijah wasn't around and then one day Kol found them in bed together" Rebekah finishes quickly, not liking discussing the subject herself. Hayley stares at her in shock.

She has always known Klaus could be sly, but she never thought he would be capable of that, especially not to his own brother. Hayley feels a tear coming to her eye at the thought of all the heartbreak Elijah must have gone through. And no doubt he probably went through it all alone. No wonder he fled away from his family the second he could, he probably couldn't stand to be around Klaus anymore.

Hayley blinks and looks upwards, hoping her tears will stop trying to force their way out.

"What happened when Elijah found out?" Hayley asks in a low tone, trying to hide the fact that she wants to cry.

Rebekah wipes her eye, tearing up herself and stares at the wall as she finishes the story.

"Well, let has just say Elijah didn't let him off lightly. There were many times we would have to rip him away from Klaus. He broke up with the girl and he hasn't dated anyone since as far as I know. He does tend to have relations with a girl in the town we stay in when we visit Italy. My guess is that's why he went living there after his travels" Rebekah explains.

"What was her name?" Hayley asks and Rebekah looks at her, confused. "You haven't named her, you've just called 'the girl'. What was her name?"

Rebekah seems to have another debate with herself, but it doesn't last long. She knows that she might as well tell Hayley everything at this point as she pretty much knows everything anyway.

"She was called Katherine."

Hayley nods and wipes her eyes. She can imagine it all happening as if she watched it all herself. Elijah planning a perfect future with a beautiful, young girl, thinking she also wants that future only to find her in bed with his little brother a few weeks later. There is no doubt that Kol would have made everything ten times worse for Elijah to deal with as well, with the constant teasing and tormenting.

Hayley sighs and stands up, not meeting Rebekah's eyes even though she can feel them on her.

"I'll get dressed and we'll order some take out," Hayley says as she walks towards the start of the corridor leading to her room.

"I'll pick some films" Rebekah says as she watches Hayley walk away.

A few hours and nine films later, Hayley and Rebekah are just abut to fall asleep on the couch when they here a bang. Hayley sits up instantly, Rebekah appears to have drifted off and Jack runs into the living room and barks as Klaus walks through the door. He drops his bag next to Rebekah's and goes straight into the kitchen, taking a bottle of Scotch from the cupboard and then walking towards the corridor. Jack follows him the entire time hoping for some attention off his owner. He gets none.

Klaus stops right before he can be hidden by the walls of the corridor and looks at Hayley.

"Elijah's booked a hotel for the night" Klaus says, nursing the bottle of alcohol as if it were a baby.

"How do you know?" Hayley asks, unsure as to why Elijah wouldn't tell her this himself.

"He told me this morning before he left. Said he didn't want to get in the way of your girly night. I told him not to worry, you'd probably love his company, but he went anyway" Klaus says, his voice laced with annoyance and frustration.

Hayley nods twice to let him know she has acknowledged what he has just said and then sits back into the couch again. Klaus looks down at the bottle and sighs, he has to tell her, he can't just leave and text her when he is half way to the airport like last time. He can't deal with a repeat of last time.

"I'm going away for a few days to sign a deal over with a competitor in New York. If I don't go the company will be in shit" Klaus explains to his wife, even though he knows she isn't really interested at this point.

"When do you leave?" Hayley asks, her voice cold and distance.

"My flights in 4 hours."

Hayley nods her head and then gestures for him to leave the room before she says, "you better go and pack then".

Klaus doesn't wait for her to say anything else, he storms down the corridor and into his bedroom. He gently lays his bottle of scotch on his bed and pulls his going-away back out from under the bed before throwing that down on the bed next to the bottle. He goes to his wardrobe and pulls out his grey suit and quickly folds it into the bag before piling two tops and a pair of jeans on top of it. He also puts two ties in the bag and then grabs his toothbrush and toothpaste and his deodorants before throwing them into the bag. He adds his phone charger and his Ipad to his bag before placing the bottle on top and zipping the bag up.

He walks down the corridor and back into the living room to find his little sister asleep on the couch with Jack and Hayley stood in the kitchen looking in the fridge. He places the bag down and storms over to Hayley. He grabs her by the arm and spins her around, shutting the fridge door and pushing her into roughly. Hayley stares at him in shock and anticipation.

"I am warning you right now, Hayley, the game you are playing is a very dangerous one and one I would not advise you play with me" Klaus says, a deadly ring in his voice.

"Klaus, get off me" Hayley says and goes to walk around him, but he slams his hand against her throat and holds her in place. Hayley's eyes widen and she tries to yank his hand away from her throat. She fails.

"This is your one and only warning, Hayley. Keep Elijah at arms length, or I'll have to show you what happens to cheats".

Hayley knows she shouldn't, it is by far the worst thing she could do in this situation, but she just can not help herself.

"You would know what happens to cheats wouldn't you".

Klaus can't believe his ears. Hayley has never been one to back down and he didn't expect her to now, but he definitely did not expect her to say that either. Knowing that only Rebekah or Elijah could of told her about what happened with Katherine and also knowing they will still be here when he gets back, he will plan to do something about them when he returns. For now he needs to discipline his disrespectful wife.

He tightens his grip on her neck and brings his mouth to her ear. Hayley struggles and wriggles to try and escape, but she has no chance. Klaus is raging.

"While I'm gone you better give up this bitchiness... I can promise you, I won't be putting up with it when I return" Klaus says aggressively into her ear and Hayley squirms.

"Klaus!"

Both Hayley and Klaus jump and he turns to see Rebekah stood at the entrance to the kitchen. Klaus slowly releases Hayley and turns to fully face his sister. Hayley sinks to the floor and Jack runs over to her, ready to comfort and care for her. Rebekah looks disgusted and disgraced at Klaus, but this isn't new to him.

"What is wrong with you?! She hasn't done anything to you, She is completely innocent and you know it! God, you are a bad drunk" Rebekah feels like slapping her brother, but she knows only more violence will come from that.

Klaus takes an angry step forwards towards Rebekah and clenches his fists.

"Not drunk, Becca, just tipsy. If I was drunk, she wouldn't be breathing. Now, excuse me, I have a flight to catch".

And with that he is gone.


	10. Chapter 10

After a long, tiresome night of crying and being comforted by Rebekah and Jack, Hayley is awoken by a door slamming. The sound on its on reminds her of her past and of last night, and the second her eyes open, she closes them again, desperate to forget. She was happy when she was asleep. None of her cruel memories, or yesterdays disaster can reach her in the dream land.

She only opens her eyes when she feels a warm hand touch her cheek. Elijah. She couldn't be happier to see him, but at the same time she is frightened what he might think. What questions he might ask. Maybe he doesn't know yet, Rebekah might not have told him yet. Hayley analyses him, inspecting every aspect of him, particularly his sad, brown eyes, filled with sorrow, worry and possibly even a hint of look on his face says it all... he knows.

Elijah stares into Hayley's tear-stained eyes as he strokes her cheek with his thumb, using only the most gentlest of touches. He half expects her to move away from him after what his brother did, but if anything she welcomes his touch. She slowly raises her hand and wraps it around his wrist and that's it. She doesn't move again.

They stay that way, staring into each others eyes as the clock in the kitchen ticks away until Hayley's phone rings. She moves as slow as a sloth, she moves that slow Elijah doesn't think she will reach the phone in time, but she does. She picks her phone up from the coffee table behind Elijah and instantly drops it when she sees Klaus' name flashing on the screen.

Panic and fear shine in her eyes and she shakes her head, curling up on the couch once again. Elijah looks down at the phone and instantly understands her reaction when he sees his brother's name on the phone screen. He moves from his position crouching on the floor to sat on the edge of the couch next to Hayley. And that is when he notices three finger sized bruises on Hayley's neck. Rebekah never mentioned any marks on the phone.

He carefully runs his hand through her hair, down to her neck and then very gently runs his thumb over the marks inflicted by his little brother. He feels disgusted to be related to Klaus right now, but he can't do anything about that, Hayley however, he can do something about.

"He did this to you?" Elijah's voice is soft and quiet, as if he is trying not to scare her away. He already knows the answer to the question, but he needs her to say it, to confirm it.

Hayley nods.

Elijah feels an indescribable anger start to take over his body, which he quickly has to gain control of. Now is no time for him to be angry, he needs to comfort Hayley and tend to her wounds. He rises from the couch and goes into the kitchen. He grabs a flannel from by the sink and runs it under the cold water for a few seconds before he returns to Hayley. He takes his place sat by her again and gently lies the flannel over the bruises, keeping his hand on the flannel and pushing down slightly.

"I'm sorry, Hayley. Maybe if I had of stayed I could have prevented this" he says, choosing his words very carefully; he doesn't want to upset her anymore.

"It was always gonna happen. I knew it was only a matter of time, I should of done something about it."

Hayley finally speaks. Her voice is dry and low, and the slight shake in her voice confirms that she spent her entire night crying and is still capable of crying some more. It pains Elijah to see her like this.

"You are not to blame" Elijah says firmly yet tenderly. Hayley nods slightly.

"I know... but it doesn't make me any less guilty."

Elijah frowns at her, questioning her silently. Rebekah had told him Hayley did nothing wrong and he believes her. And even if she did do something wrong, nothing Hayley might have done would have deserved what Klaus did to her.

"He thinks I'm gonna cheat on him with you while he's gone" Hayley says, feeling slightly embarrassed to be saying it to Elijah himself. He raises an eyebrow but apart from that does not give her a reaction. Hayley wipes her damp, sore eyes and gives him a quick, fake smile.

"Ridiculous, right?"

Elijah nods in response and smirks at her.

"I mean, he has no right to be pissed off about me spending time with you, or act like he cares... but even if he doesn't care, I don't know if I could ever do that to him, even after what he's done now" Hayley carries on and Elijah nods in understanding.

"And if you believed that is what I expect of you, you are mistaken. I would never expect such a thing of anyone" Elijah says. He knows what it feels like to be cheated on and he wouldn't even wish it on Klaus, not even after what he has done.

Hayley nods and moves her hand down to put it on top of Elijah's which is holding the flannel to her neck. She squeezes his hand gently and gives him a small smile. They stare into each others eyes again, none of them seeming to want to break away.

"A man should never mark a woman unless it is out of passion" Elijah says, his tone serious yet as soft as a kitten's purr.

"It's not the first time I've had a few bruises, Elijah. I'm fine" Hayley replies and squeezes his hand again.

"That does not excuse Niklaus' behaviour."

Hayley smiles a genuine smile and watches Elijah as he stares at their hands. She sits up slowly and moves towards him slowly and carefully, unsure if she is overstepping a line. She wraps her arms around him, resting them at the top of his back as she hugs him. Elijah is stiff at first, not sure whether it is appropriate for him to hug her back, but eventually he gives in and wraps his arms around her lower back. Hayley smiles and nuzzles her face into his neck. He smells like expensive cologne and she loves it.

"I don't wanna think about it anymore" Hayley says quietly next to Elijah's ear. "Can we watch a film?"

Elijah nods without hesitation and pulls away from Hayley as he takes his blazer off before draping it over the arm of the couch. Hayley gives the damp cloth to Jack, who has been sat on the single seated chair watching them. He takes it from her and trots away to lick the water from the cloth. Elijah settles back next to Hayley and she turns on the television as she rests her head on Elijah's shoulder.

Halfway through the film when a sad scene comes on, Hayley bites her lip and clears her throat. She feels like she should share what is going on in her mind with someone and the only person here right now is Elijah. She was always told talking about problems helps so she might as well try it.

"My dad use to start like that as well". She pauses. "He'd pin me against a wall and call me as many names as he could think of in his drunken state before he'd throw me on the floor. Once I was on the floor, it was usually over... but if I didn't stay completely still then it could go on for hours."

Hayley pauses again and bites her lip as she feels tears fall down her cheeks and onto Elijah's shirt. She wraps both arms around one of his arms and cuddles him as she gives him a glimpse into her awful past.

"He hit me everywhere. And he didn't stop. He hit me for hours and hours and he never stopped... not until he really hurt me. He never stopped" Hayley sobs, trying so hard to speak clearly.

"You deserved so much better. You still do, Hayley" Elijah speaks calmly and quietly.

Hayley shakes her head as more tears roll down her cheeks.

"I can't do it again, Elijah. I can't go through it again" she says, now crying non-stop.

Elijah wraps both arms around her and pulls her to his chest as she cries. He knows that if she doesn't let it all out now it will only get worse in time. Even if it does kill him to see her this broken, he knows there is not much he can do accept be there to support her and wipe the tears as they fall.

"And you don't have to" Elijah says, his voice just above a whisper.

They stay like that until the film ends and Hayley runs out of tears. It is now dark outside and as the credits start to roll, Elijah moves back slightly to see Hayley's face to find her asleep. He sighs and kisses her forehead before standing and lifting her in one swift movement, careful not to wake her. He carries her to the bedroom and finds Jack already lay on the bed waiting for his owner. Elijah lies her down on her bed next to Jack and pulls the sheets over her gently.

Elijah leans over Hayley and strokes Jack's head. Jack tilts his head into Elijah's hand and lets out a small whine. Elijah gives the dog a small smile and then looks at Hayley again. With the softest of touches, he runs two fingers down her cheek and sighs before he turns to leave. Hayley hears him leaving and quickly reaches out and grabs his hand, desperate to not be alone right now.

Elijah turns and looks down at Hayley to find her eyes staring up at him. Her tired, restless eyes are full of tears again and he knows exactly what her request will be, and he knows he will not be able to deny it.

"Don't leave me" Hayley whispers, a shakiness in her dry throat.

He sighs softly. He should leave. This is bad, terrible even. If they were to get caught... that would not end well. But he can't leave her when she is like this. Nobody deserves to be left alone when they are like this, in this state.

Elijah squeezes her hand and kicks off his shoes before he climbs into the bed next to Hayley. He stays sat up against the headboard and wraps an arm around her as she settles her head on his stomach with one arm draped around his waist, fingers pressing into the side of his belt. She slips one of her legs in between both of his and the lets out a loud, shaky sigh as she feels the tears overwhelm her again.

After another 20 minutes of silently crying and Elijah rubbing her back comfortingly, Hayley falls into a deep sleep. She has worn herself out with her constant crying and for once she feels warm and safe with Elijah by her side. Tonight for the first time in god knows how long, she will sleep peacefully. And half an hour later, after a small tear manages to slip from Elijah's eye, he also falls asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Hayley smiles as she wakes from the most peaceful slumber she has had in god knows how long. Last night Elijah Mikaelson slept in her bed. It was wrong, they both knew it was incredibly wrong, yet waking up, Hayley feels no guilt. In the space of a week Elijah has proved he is much more of a man than Klaus has ever been. He treats her right, always considers her before acting, or saying something and seems to always be happy to spend time with her. Something Klaus seems to hate doing.

However, Hayley's smile drops when she realises that just like every other morning she is alone in her bed. Maybe Elijah is not as brilliant as Hayley thinks he is. Hayley opens her eyes and jumps out of bed, Jack also jumps off the bed and follows her. She stops outside Elijah's door and looks down at Jack, he sits and looks back. She shakes her head knowing she should just leave it, pretend it never happened and move on. He was just comforting her, there was nothing in it. Or was there?

The slight chance that there could be more than just kindness in Elijah's actions causes Hayley to knock on the door. When she gets no reply she enters the room, Jack pushes past her and jumps onto the bed. Hayley scans the room and stops when her eyes spot Elijah stood at the desk by the window staring back at her. He is stood there in nothing but a towel and her eyes cannot help but admire his muscular body, stopping and spending an extremely inappropriate amount of time staring at his torso.

Snapping out of it, Hayley shakes her head and looks down to the floor, pretty sure she is blushing.

"Sorry, I can come back-"

"It's fine" Elijah cuts her off and gives her a small smile. "Are you okay?" he asks as he then turns around and pulls a white shirt off the desk chair and moves to lie it down on the end of the bed.

Hayley tries her best to stop, but she can't help but watch his every move. His usual elegance still remains even when he is in nothing but a damp towel. A damp towel that is riding a little too low on his hips... Hayley steps forwards and snaps herself out of her daydream again.

"You weren't there when I woke up and I felt like I should come and check on you," Hayley explains, knotting her fingers together to distract herself from staring at Elijah's body. Elijah hides his smile and moves to the chest of drawers and opens the second one.

"I apologise about that, I was going to leave a note. I arranged to do coffee with Rebekah and I didn't want to wake you" Elijah tells her as he pulls out a turquoise tie and then shuts the drawer before lying the tie down next to the shirt.

"It's my gym day anyway so, it's probably best to be up early" Hayley says and they make eye contact. Elijah nods and gives her a small smile before stepping closer to her. He stops when there is only a few feet left in between them and looks down at the floor before looking back up and into her eyes.

"You never answered my question." Hayley swallows nervously and raises her eyebrows, silently asking what question he is referring to.

"Are you okay?" Elijah repeats.

Hayley looks down to the floor for a few seconds. She is not entirely sure how to answer the question. Is she okay? Overall, yes. Klaus is gone for a few days so there will be no arguments, or possible violence for the next few days. Rebekah will probably take her out one night while Klaus is gone to try and take her mind off everything, that will be nice. And Elijah is here for her to talk to. Everything is okay, until she lets her mind wonder to what happened right before Klaus left.

Hayley shakes her head and shakes away any bad thoughts that were about to come to mind.

"I will be eventually" she says, giving him the easy answer instead of trying to explain everything going on inside of her mind.

Elijah nods his head twice and looks down at the floor. He knows Hayley isn't being entirely honest with him, but he also knows not to push her into telling him something. He works with many people in his therapy sessions who find it hard to open up and he knows that once they feel safe and comfortable they eventually let their walls down.

"I better get ready anyway. I'll see you later" Hayley says and points to the door behind her despite making no effort to move towards it.

"I'll see you later" Elijah says. He gently strokes her arm in a silent goodbye before moving towards his neatly laid out shirt on the bed. Hayley watches him as he turns his back to her and she sees scars. A tattoo on the left at the top of his back and then scars scattered all over his beautiful back. Now she is thinking about it, she's sure she saw one on his lower torso as well... She shakes her head and walks to the door, it's none of her business how he got his scars.

She stops at the door and closes her eyes for a few seconds before turning around to face again.

"Elijah..."

Elijah looks up at her upon hearing his name.

"Thank you" Hayley says with a small, sad smile on her face.

Elijah smiles at her and looks down again for a few seconds before looking at Hayley again.

"My pleasure." With that Hayley returns his smile and leaves him to finish getting ready.

Elijah quickly gets dressed and leaves to go and meet his sister. He considers inviting Hayley, but he needs time to think about last night. He cannot put into words how badly he behaved with his sister-in-law, but he still can't come to feel bad about what he did. He was only comforting her, even if he did have slightly more selfish reasons for doing it than wanting her to stop crying, it still went no further than cuddling. Nothing terrible happened.

After 15 minutes walking, Elijah finds the cafe Rebekah was talking about on the phone. He enters the cafe and sees Rebekah sat in a booth near the window. She waves and he gives her a small smile before walking over. He leans down and kisses his sister's cheek before taking a seat opposite her. Rebekah lifts the jug of coffee and pours some into a cup before pushing the cup over to Elijah, who smiles to say thank you.

"Lovely day wouldn't you say?" Elijah says as he looks out of the window and lifts the cup of coffee to his lips.

"It is indeed. Shame I never tan" Rebekah says and has a sip from her own cup. Elijah smiles at his sisters comment and puts his cup down on the table.

"How's Hayley?" Rebekah asks. She feels slightly guilty for leaving Hayley when she did, but one of the orders at work went completely wrong and she would of been at risk of losing almost all of her customers and sales if she didn't go and sort it.

"As emotionally broken as can be expected" Elijah replies and then takes a sip of his drink. "Mentally as well..." he adds and Rebekah sighs. Shaking her head she looks out of the window as she speaks.

"I can't believe he would do such a thing. I knew he was a wanker, he's always been a wanker, but I never thought he'd put her through something like that after what father put him through."

"What father put us all through, Rebekah" Elijah corrects her. "Do not neglect our sufferings because you wish to find an excuse as to why Niklaus would harm Hayley."

"I would never neglect our sufferings. We went through it just like Nik did. The only difference is we came out with our morals intact" Rebekah says and takes a sip from her cup.

They stay silent, both too deep in their thoughts to say anything. They are both staring out of the window, avoiding each others eyes after their rather intense conversation. They both slowly take a sip of their coffee. And that's when Elijah decides he has had enough. Abusers and abuse victims are some of his most frequent clients, dealing with his brother will be nothing he hasn't done before.

"I need to speak with him."

Rebekah instantly snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Elijah. The last time Elijah said those exact words about Klaus he beat the life out of him for sleeping with his girlfriend and a repeat of that is not what Rebekah wants, and she doubts it will be any good for Hayley's mental state either.

"Elijah, please" Rebekah says.

"Please what?" Elijah asks, already knowing what Rebekah is about to say.

"Don't do this. Leave it to Hayley, she won't stand for this, she'll leave him," Rebekah knows Hayley is strong and will only take so much of Klaus' crap and she hopes that she has reached her breaking point.

Elijah sighs and downs the rest of his coffee.

"When do abuse victims ever leave their abuser, Rebekah?"

Rebekah stays silent. She knows Elijah is right. The victims never leave their abusers, in fact they do the exact opposite, they convince their-selves it was their fault in the first place. And even though Elijah defending Hayley is a good thing Rebekah knows why he is doing it.

"I know you care for her, Elijah, but she is not yours to care for" she says and takes her older brother's hand in hers.

Elijah tilts his head slight, raises an eyebrow and gives her a questioning look.

"I'm sorry to say this, but it doesn't surprise me that he is acting like this if he's seen the way you look at her" Rebekah says and Elijah's eyebrows raise again.

"Rebekah-"

"There could be hundreds of America's prettiest modals in the room and you would still only look at her." Elijah quickly looks away from her and stares out of the window again. Rebekah knows she is being brave standing up to her brother, but she knows someone has to make him realise his behaviour is not honourable.

"And she adores you" Rebekah adds after a few seconds. Elijah turns back and takes his hand from his sisters grasp as he looks at her once again.

"She is not mine... and she never will be. I simply wish to save her from a repeat of her past and save Niklaus from becoming the monstrous man that we call father" Elijah tells her and he hopes she believes it. He has always been good at hiding his emotions, but Rebekah has always been good at reading him and seeing past his walls. He cannot let her know just how much he likes Hayley.

She sighs and nods her head as she looks down at the table.

"Just be careful. He won't take it if he thinks you're trying to challenge him" she warns and Elijah nods once.

"I'm always careful" he says.

Rebekah nods again and then rises from her seat. She straightens out her clothes before pulling her jacket on and picking up her shopping bags from under the table. Elijah looks out of the window while she prepares to leave. He knows she is right, but how is he meant to change how he feels?

History is repeating itself, but this time he is in Klaus' position.

"She's a wonderful girl with a heart of pure gold. It's just a shame she's been through so much" Rebekah pauses. "Look after her in a way he never will, Elijah."

Elijah nods to his sister and she gives him a sad smile. Rebekah leans down and puts her hand on Elijah's shoulder as she kisses his cheek in a silent goodbye before she leaves. Elijah sighs once she has gone and continues to stare out of the window. He pours himself another cup of coffee and sits back in the booth. He has a lot to think about and consider before he makes his move.


	12. Chapter 12

Elijah walks into the apartment at seven at night and is greeted by Jack. He runs over and throws himself at Elijah, who rubs behind his ear and pats him on the back as he looks around for any signs that Hayley might be home. There is a glass half filled with wine on the coffee table so she can't be far. He gives Jack one last stroke and goes to find Hayley.

He walks through the living room and turns to walk down the corridor when he sees her on her way towards him. He stops where he is and a small smile comes to his face. She is wearing her usual black jeans with a back t-shirt which hugs her body perfectly. Her hair looks slightly damp, she's probably just got back from the gym and jumped in the shower.

"Hey, you okay?" Hayley asks, giving Elijah a smile. He returns the smile and nods.

"Are you?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hayley walks past him and he turns to watch her sit down on the couch.

She sighs as she picks up the DVD case next to her on the couch and turns it over to read the back of it. Hayley turns around and looks over her shoulder when she realises Elijah has not followed and is still stood there. She looks him up and down before smiling at him again.

"You sure you're okay?" Hayley asks, not sure why he is stood there watching her.

"Yes, I'm sure" Elijah replies and moves to sit down next to her. Hayley returns to reading the back of the DVD case as he sits down next to her, maybe a little too close than he should do.

Elijah slowly reaches over and grabs the top of the DVD case before pulling it from Hayley's hands and reading it himself. Hayley smiles as he does this and shakes her head in amusement. She leans over and picks up her glass of wine while he reads the case and takes a rather large sip. Elijah looks at the front of the casing and shakes his head before putting it down on the coffee table.

Hayley frowns, not sure what he is shaking his head at.

"You can't possibly enjoy watching this" Elijah says and nods towards the DVD.

"I do actually, it's one of my favourites" Hayley says and puts her glass back down.

Elijah shakes his head again.

"That's not a real movie. I could show you hundreds of movies that are far more worthy of watching than that" Elijah tells her and Hayley smiles at the thought of sitting and watching films with Elijah all night.

"There's nothing wrong with this one, Elijah. It's Twilight, it's one of the best films out there" Hayley says. She then adds "besides it's not as if I have anything better to do."

Elijah lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. He wishes he could do something to make Hayley's night better, but the truth is he probably can't. Not much can make her truly happy anymore, especially not after what Klaus has recently done. A part of her just doesn't feel the same anymore.

Elijah suddenly stands up and holds his hand out to Hayley. She looks at his hand and frowns at him.

"Come on" he says and she takes his hand and allows him to pull her up.

"Where are we going?" Hayley asks and she grabs her jacket off the single chair on the way past.

"You'll see once we get there" Elijah replies and opens the door to let Hayley leave first. Once she has stepped out, he follows and clicks for the elevator.

Hayley zips up her jacket and the elevator arrives. They step onto the elevator at the same time and Elijah clicks for the ground floor. They stand in silence but like usual neither of them find it to be awkward, or uncomfortable. They arrive at the ground floor and step off quickly as a couple try to squeeze past them.

"Are we going in your car?" Hayley asks as she pushes her hands into her pockets.

"I thought we could go for a walk actually" Elijah says and Hayley sighs. He looks at her with a smirk on his face and she rolls her eyes at him.

"As if you're making me walk when I did 4 hours in the gym today" she states and Elijah chuckles under his breath.

"My apologies, I just couldn't stand to let you watch that monstrosity people actually consider an enjoyable movie" he says and holds the building door open for her. Hayley laughs as she walks through the door and Elijah smiles at the sound he is starting to like a little too much.

They walk side by side in a tranquil silence, the only sound being the odd dog barking, or music from a nearby bar. Ever now and again Hayley finds herself falling into Elijah and has to pull herself away. Elijah sees every time she sways closer and every time he wants to help her the rest of the way, to pull her into him and hold her close as they walk under the half moon and the shiny, silver stars. But he has incredible self-control and is able to stop himself every time he moves closer to her.

After almost half an hour of walking, they arrive at a street filled with people partying and drinking, dancing and cheering. With music blaring from speakers in all directions and everybody enjoying themselves, and dressed in suits, or beautiful dresses, Hayley can only assume this is a wedding. Surely enough, a few minutes later her theory is proved correct. The bride and groom come past dancing with a small group of men and women following them with confetti.

Elijah smiles as he watches the couple laugh and pull each other closer to start a dance as the song changes. He wishes he could have that one day. Hayley is also watching on, feeling slightly jealous. She use to have that kind of love with Klaus. He always pulled her out to dance without fail and he always made sure to make her feel like she was the only woman in the room. Now he couldn't even do that if he tried his hardest.

Hayley shakes her head and looks away from them and towards Elijah. He continues to stare on at the couple and Hayley can't help but feel sorry for him. He could be happily married with maybe a kid, or two by now if Klaus hadn't of ruined his relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

Elijah suddenly turns to face her and he gives her a half smile. She smiles back and takes one last look at the bride and groom before she bites her lip and turns back to Elijah.

"Ever gatecrashed a wedding?" She asks and Elijah frowns and smiles at the same time.

"No, I'm afraid I can't say I have" he replies and Hayley smiles.

"Well, there's a first time for everything" Hayley says and grabs Elijah's hand as she pulls him into the crowd of dancing people.

Hayley has no idea where she is going, but she continues to pull Elijah through the crowds. She stops when she finds a space big enough for the both of them and turns around to Elijah. He stops dead in his tracks and smiles at her, unsure of what else to do. Hayley smiles back at him and grabs his tie and pulls him to her, he willingly does as he is told. She then wraps both arms around his neck and his arms automatically fall to her waist as they fall into a fast paced swaying motion.

They continue to sway, changing their speed with the change of each song, but never letting go of one another. The feeling of warmth surrounding them is addictive and none of them can seem to get enough as they dance on through the night. Almost two hours later is the first time any of them make a move to change their position.

"I'll get us some drinks" Elijah says into Hayley's ear and she pulls away to look at him and nods. He nods back once and gives her a small smile before walking to the nearest bar.

He struggles to move once inside because of all the people dancing wildly and stood talking near the bar, but he gets there eventually without using any unnecessary force. He orders a Vodka and coke for Hayley, not entirely sure what she likes, and a double bourbon for himself.

While waiting for the drinks he looks out of the window to see Hayley still dancing. He watches her swing her hips from side to side and roam her hands over her body as she moves. He feels his throat go dry and he quickly looks away. The drinks arrive and he leaves a 20 dollar bill on the counter before taking them and leaving.

As he steps outside, Elijah sees a table near where Hayley is dancing become available and he quickly moves towards it. He puts the drinks on the table and shrugs his blazer off. He gentle wraps it around the back of one of the chairs and picks up his bourbon as he looks up at Hayley again. She looks right back at him and starts to dance her way to him. He smiles behind his glass as he watches her.

Hayley downs her drink despite not knowing what is in the glass, yanks her jacket off and tosses it on the chair and then quickly goes back to dancing. Elijah chuckles to himself and takes a sip from his drink. Body Talk by Foxes comes on and Hayley suddenly becomes even more energetic if that's possible and turns to face Elijah. She points at him and sways her hips as she gestures with her hands for him to come and join her. He smiles at her and sighs before downing all of his drink and making his way towards her, undoing his top button and loosing his tie.

Once he reaches her, she throws her arms around his neck and pulls him close so almost every part of their bodies are touching and she begins to sway again. Elijah's hands fall to her hips and he sways with her, looking down at how Hayley's body moves as he does.

Hayley uses her hand and forces Elijah to make eye contact by lifting his chin. She bites her lip as they stare into each others eyes and dance together. The air surrounding them suddenly becomes very thick and both Hayley and Elijah can feel a strong desire start to rise up inside of them.

Five drinks later, an extremely bad song choice is made and Hayley just can't seem to control herself anymore. S&M by Rihanna comes on and Hayley downs her drink and walks over to where she left Elijah with one thing on her mind. She grabs his shoulder and turns him to face her before she turns around herself and pushes her back against his front before wrapping one arm around the back of his neck and slowly dropping to the floor.

Elijah tries so unbelievably hard to not enjoy what Hayley is doing, but there is no man in the world who would not enjoy this. As Hayley comes back up from the floor she makes sure to really rub her backside against Elijah's groin and he grinds his teeth together to stop himself from groaning.

She wraps an arm around Elijah's neck again and suddenly starts swaying again from left to right. Elijah locks one arm around her waist and sways with her, pulling her as close as possible with each movement they make. Hayley smirks to her drunken self; she did not expect this to happen when Elijah dragged her out of her apartment earlier on. She thought they would go for a walk, maybe get food and then go back and watch a film. She is exceptionally happy the night did not go on that route.

Hayley turns in the circle of Elijah's arms and wraps both arms around his neck before bringing them down with her as she drops to the floor again. Elijah literally has no idea how to react. He stares down at Hayley, eyes full of lust as she slowly makes her way back up to him. Once she is standing up straight again, he grabs one of her hands in his and places the other on her waist. Hayley places her hand on his shoulder and pulls him as close as they can possibly get before they start to step and sway around in circles together.

It isn't long before Elijah spins Hayley away from him and then quickly yanks her back. As they are about to collide, Hayley jumps into the air, leaving Elijah with no choice but to catch her. And he does. Her arms fly around his neck and her legs lock around his waist as her head falls back and she looks up at the stars in the dark sky. His arms lock around her lower back, one hand cupping her backside as he feels a tightening in his pants.

Elijah spins her in his arms three times before he lets her down. She slides down his body slowly until both of her feet are firmly on the floor, making sure she maintains eye contact as she does. Once she is safely on the floor, Elijah backs her into a nearby wall and grabs her face with both hands. Hayley is panting, not only because she is out of breath from all of the dancing, but because of how badly she wants this.

If Elijah was to take her up against this wall right now, there is not one part of her that would feel guilty. After a lot of thinking and a lot of time analysing what happened with Klaus, she has realised that if she is going to be punished for something, she might as well have done it.

They stay like that for a while, panting and staring at each others lips. Both of them want to make the first move, but none of them can actually find the courage to do so. Elijah slowly drops his hands from Hayley's face and his head falls to her shoulder. She closes her eyes and sighs as she wraps her arms around him, hugging him and holding him close to her.

It seems they have both come to their senses.

Hayley knows that she shouldn't do this, not only would she be causing a possible split between the whole Mikaelson family, but she would probably lose all respect she has for herself. She sighs again. They can't stay here after that. Wedding celebrations go on all night in New Orleans and if they stick around there is no doubt there will be a repeat of their almost kiss. And next time, Hayley won't accept anything except Elijah's lips pressed firmly against hers.

"I think it's time for home" she says quietly into his ear. She gets no reaction at first, but a few seconds later she feels him nod against her shoulder.

Slowly, Elijah raises his head from Hayley's shoulder and then looks down at her. They stay like that for a few seconds before Hayley smiles and leans up to place a light kiss on his cheek. Elijah accepts the kiss and strokes Hayley's cheek. He smiles at her before he walks away to get his blazer and Hayley's jacket from their table.

He returns and holds his elbow out for Hayley to link it, she does just that and they begin the long stumble home.


	13. Chapter 13

Hayley stirs from her deep sleep, but does not open her eyes. She knows that the second she does open her eyes she will be hit with the worst kind of headache: a hangover. She rubs her eyes gently and decides to risk it. Carefully, she squints and when she realises her head doesn't hurt that much, she opens her eyes fully. She checks the time on her phone to see it is just past lunch time. It doesn't surprise her she slept in, she was out until four in the morning.

Slowly, she shuffles to the end of the bed and climbs out. She scratches her head and runs her hand through her wavy, brown hair as she goes into the en-suite bathroom. She checks her reflection and raises her eyebrows at the make up smudged across her cheek and the small bruise still left from her husbands attack on her. She shakes her head and turns around to flick the shower on before quickly stripping out of last nights clothes and jumping in.

The heat of the water helps her headache fade slightly. Hayley grabs her shower gel and starts washing herself as she tries to go over the events of last night, but she seems to have a lot of gaps in her memory. She can't remember anything after they left the wedding and she can't decide whether that is a good thing, or not. Who knows what could of happened on the way home after the way they were dancing?

It was very... sexual.

Hayley's mind begins to wander to how last night could of ended, of what might of happened on the way home. How she might of leaned in and dragged Elijah into the nearest bar to locate the bathroom and make very good use of their drunken states. The door opens slightly and Hayley jumps out of her daydream. She grabs a towel from the basket next to the shower and wraps it around herself before going out of the en-suite. She doesn't know what she expects to find, but she is relieved when it's only Jack.

She sighs and pulls her towel tighter around her. Jack stands from his seated position near the bed, tilts his head to the right and wags his tail at her. Hayley smiles at him and bends slightly, signalling for him to go to her. He trots over to her and she strokes up an down his back, making sure to tickle his favourite spot behind his ear.

"What should I do?" She asks Jack, knowing he won't answer. She slowly crouches to the floor and then lets herself fall so she is sat on the floor with Jack. He circles around her and then comes to sit right next to her, looking right at her as if he is ready to listen to her.

Hayley sighs and looks down at her hands which she is fidgeting with to try and distract herself from the seriousness of her next statement. She looks up and stares at one of the corners in her room before she lets out a deep breath. Tears suddenly start to shine in her eyes and Jack nudges her shoulder with his nose.

"I think I'm falling for him."

Jack drops his head slightly and lets out a small whine. Hayley wipes her eyes quickly and smiles at Jack.

"I don't know what to do, Jack" Hayley admits and he whines again.

Jack puts one of his paws on Hayley's leg and nuzzles her chin before he sniffs her face and begins to lick it. Hayley chuckles as he clears any tears that might have slipped past. He always knows how to make her happy, even when she isn't sure herself.

A knock at the half open door makes Jack pull away from Hayley. He runs to the door and Hayley follows him with her eyes to see Elijah stood in the doorway. He has his hair neatly scraped to one side as usual and is wearing all black, no tie or blazer today. He looks at magically perfect as ever and Hayley wishes she had of met him five years ago instead of his brother.

"Good morning. I was wondering if you would mind helping me find some old photos of our family?" Elijah asks as polite as ever.

"Yeah sure, I'll get dressed and we can go and look through the box room" Hayley tells him and he nods. He gives her a quick, small smile before looking down for a few seconds and then looking back up.

"How are you today?" He asks and Hayley feels herself falling deep into the arms of the trap inside of her mind. The last thing she wants is to be thinking about her emotions, because whenever she thinks about how she feels she cries. And she doesn't want to cry again.

"Fine thanks" Hayley says and then quickly changes the subject. "What are you using the photos for anyways?"

"I said I would help Niklaus and I will. I was hoping the photos may trigger a nicer side of him, maybe even help him see what he has become" Elijah explains, then adding, "I've used this technique before. It can either work wonders, or fail miserably, but I believe it is a positive place to start."

Hayley nods her head in agreement. Elijah is a professional, he helps people with mental and physical problems for a living, she can trust that he will do whatever necessary to help his brother. However, what Hayley will do after Klaus has received that help is still to be determined.

"I'll let you get dressed" Elijah says and leaves without giving Hayley any time to respond. She doesn't mind; she didn't have much to say anyway.

Hayley gets up off the floor and goes to her drawers. She opens one and pulls out a clean bra and pair of knickers before closing that one and opening the one under it for a pair of socks. She drops her towel and pulls on her underwear and socks before she walks over to her wardrobe and pulls out a pair of her usual black jeans and a dark green top. She pulls the jeans and top on before quickly running back into the bathroom to clean her teeth of the alcohol staining them from the previous night and then leaves her room.

As she walks down the corridor she sees Elijah crouched in front of the door to the box room with Jack. He is stroking him and scratching behind his ear and Jack can't seem to get enough of it. Hayley smiles at the sight. This could be of been her family. Her, Elijah and their dog... but unfortunately she met the wrong brother.

Elijah looks up at Hayley and smiles before he stands up, giving Jack one last pat on the back. Jack whines at the loss of contact before he trots off to the kitchen. He looks Hayley over quickly and is more than happy with what he sees. Once he is done admiring her beauty, Elijah steps aside for Hayley to lead him into the box room.

Hayley opens the door and sighs as she wonders where to start.

"Try to find boxes with 'Klaus' or a 'K' on them" she tells Elijah as she moves to the back of the room near the window to start looking for Klaus' boxes.

Elijah passes her and starts checking a wall made out of boxes. After a few minutes looking, Elijah finds one with a 'K' on top of it and opens it. Hayley also finds one of Klaus' boxes and starts rooting through it. Elijah slowly removes things from the box as he looks for any photos, or photo albums. He removes a baseball mitt, a pile of children's books, a college degree certificate and an Arctic Monkeys CD before he gets to a small pile of photos.

He pulls them from the box and begins to look at them. The first one is a picture of Klaus in front of his first car, a small but fast Audi A3. The second one is of Klaus, Rebekah and their mother sat in a bar. Klaus has an arm around each of them and is kissing their sister's cheek, Elijah assumes they were drunk because they certainly look it. He pauses at the third picture and a small smile forces its way onto his face. The picture is of Klaus and Hayley sat on a field. Hayley is lay in between Klaus' legs and has her top off revealing her bra. Klaus also has his top off and is sticking his middle finger up whilst he has a cigarette in his other hand.

"Hayley, look at this" Elijah says as he turns to Hayley with the picture.

She stops emptying her box and watches Elijah crouch next to her before she averts her eyes to the picture. She can't help but smile at how happy they both look in the photo despite all of his recent behaviour. It is obvious in that picture that they loved each other.

"You look happy" Elijah comments and Hayley smiles.

"We were" she replies and takes the picture from Elijah, gently holding it in her hands as tears start to well up in her eyes. She remembers when this picture was taken. A few months after they met, around about five if she remembers rightly, they were in Amsterdam on their first holiday together. The day after the picture was taken they had their first real argument and Hayley caught the next flight home, Klaus remained there for the rest of the holiday and only got in contact when he returned.

She should have ended it all back then and saved herself the heartache.

"Leave them on one of the boxes and we'll put all the photos we find together to show him" Hayley says and Elijah nods before standing and placing the pictures on a box nearby the boxes he was checking.

Hayley decides now is the best time to ask if Elijah can remember all of last night. She might not get another chance before Klaus comes home and no doubt he will be watching over her like a hawk considering how angry he was when he left. She sits back against the wall behind her and pulls her legs up to her chest.

"Elijah, do you remember what happened after we left the wedding last night?"

Elijah turns to face her again.

"You fell numerous times whilst walking back here and then we drank your entire wine collection and spent the rest of the night running around throwing Jack's tennis balls at each other. You fell asleep at about seven in the morning so I put you in bed and played with Jack for an hour before I fell asleep myself."

Hayley blinks a few times in shock.

"Wow, that was not what I was expecting to hear" she says and Elijah chuckles before turning around and starting to look through a box again.

Hayley pushes her box away and opens another one with Klaus' name on it. There are two photo albums on top of everything else and she pulls one out and opens the first page. The first page is two picture of Klaus as a baby and then two of him as an adult, one with some friends in high school, the other of him stood outside a house. Hayley flicks the page and finds a picture of Elijah and Klaus. In the picture Elijah has an arm around Klaus' shoulder and has a bottle of beer in one of his hands, Klaus is sticking up both of his middle fingers and looks like he is about to pass out. And next to it is a picture of Elijah, Klaus and Kol sat on a couch. Klaus has a bin on his knee, probably for puking in, Kol is cuddling a bottle of Vodka and two beer bottles and Elijah is holding two beer bottles, one in each hand.

Hayley laughs as she walks to Elijah. She gently puts her hand on his back as she places the album on the box he was about to open so he can see the photo. He smiles instantly and then shakes his head in embarrassment.

"Did you use to get your little brothers drunk, Elijah Mikaelson?" Hayley asks and Elijah chuckles.

"They would frequently invite themselves to my parties and I didn't have the heart to turn them away" Elijah says and Hayley laughs.

She picks the photo album back up and turns to lean her back against the wall of boxes. She flicks the pages looking for more embarrassing photos of Elijah and his brothers. Elijah smiles as he watches her, secretly hoping that she doesn't find anything else. Unfortunately for Elijah, she does.

The next one she finds is a photo of Elijah, Klaus, Freya and Rebekah dancing in a bar. Klaus and Rebekah are dancing on the dance floor, Freya is taking the picture and only half of her head is in the picture, and Elijah looks dead in the corner sticking up two fingers. Hayley laughs and points at Elijah in the photo.

Elijah looks and rolls his eyes with a smile on his face.

"I look hideous" he says and turns the page quickly, which just makes Hayley laugh more.

"You look very drunk, but still very handsome" Hayley comments and continues to flick through the album.

Elijah raises an eyebrow.

"Handsome?" He asks, his tone very suggestive, and Hayley looks up at him with a smirk on her face.

"Very handsome. Almost as handsome as last night" Hayley says, her tone become more flirty by the minute.

Elijah smirks at her and looks down at the floor as he moves slightly closer.

"Last night was extremely fun... I'd like to thank you for the experience" Elijah says, his tone also becoming more seductive.

Hayley smirks and bites her lip, pushing her body out towards him as she places the album on the box behind her. Elijah's eyes don't leave face as she does this, he doesn't want to miss a single emotion that cross through her. He has no idea where this is going, but he is certainly enjoying the game they are playing.

"And how might you thank me for such a wonderful night?" Hayley asks, pushing her hips even more forwards so they are almost touching Elijah's groin.

Elijah knows exactly what Hayley is doing and it is working immensely.

"I don't think it would be entirely appropriate" Elijah says, his voice just above a whisper and Hayley bites her lip again.

She suddenly realises just how close they are and she stands up straight, desperate to be even closer. Their mouths are only inches apart and there is nothing stopping them from taking this to a whole new level. Hayley slowly brings head hand to Elijah's cheek and strokes down to his chin before dropping her hand to her side again. Elijah feels his heart rate rise and he waits for Hayley's next move in anticipation.

"I think... that I think about you more than I should" Hayley admits in a quiet almost whisper.

Elijah swallows nervously.

"I know that I think about you more than I should" Elijah says and Hayley lets out a breath of relief. She isn't the only one.

Hayley puts one hand on Elijah's firm chest and moves her mouth towards his slightly. Elijah gently puts his hand on her waist, where it was last night and also moves his lips towards Hayley's but then stops. With the tiniest of gaps between them he stops and ghosts his bottom lip over Hayley's top lip. She prays to god that this is not about to end before it begins.

But Hayley gets what she wants. Elijah brings his other hand to her cheek and then slowly lowers his lips to hers. The kiss is slow and deep, stirring emotions from deep down inside both of them. And they don't stop after one kiss. Their lips lock together again and again after every time they break apart for air, on the rare occasion that they do break apart that is.

Elijah's lips fit perfectly against Hayley's and she feels like she is in heaven. This is what she should of felt the first time she kissed Klaus.

Finally Elijah pulls away, but not too far away. Their lips are still within inches of each other and they are still holding each other close. They breath into each others faces, a cool breeze for them both to help them relax after the line they have just crossed. A line they should of never crossed.

It was wrong, but just as Hayley expected, it felt so right. She has never felt anything so right in her life and even though she knows what the consequences will be if Klaus ever find out, she cannot and will not push Elijah away now that they have come this far.

Suddenly, the front door is slammed and they jump away from each other. They stand looking at each other, waiting for an explanation maybe, or maybe just waiting for Klaus to walk in and catch them. Hayley wouldn't care if he did, all it took was one kiss and she can now officially say she is addicted to the taste of Elijah Mikaelson. One taste will definitely not be enough. If Klaus catches them then it will be worth the beating to be with Elijah.

However, she changes her mind when Klaus walks into the room looking rather angry.

"What are you doing?" Klaus asks, his tone laced with aggression.

Hayley goes to speak but Elijah beats her to it.

"I asked Hayley to help me find some old photos" he tells his younger brother and Klaus nods his head.

"Whatever" he says and then looks at Hayley. "We need to talk when you're done here."

Elijah looks down at the floor, he is trying his hardest not to saying anything to Klaus that might start an argument.

"I'll clean up and we can talk whenever" Hayley says and Klaus nods before he leaves the room.

Hayley reaches out to Elijah and takes his hand in hers. He doesn't look up but he does squeeze her hand and she squeezes his in return. He then brings the back of her hand to his mouth and kisses it before letting go. Hayley gives him a small smile before she leaves to go and speak with her husband.


	14. Chapter 14

Klaus throws his bag down on the bed and then sits down next to it, putting his head in his hands. His entire trip was filled with meetings, drinking and strip clubs. He has never much enjoyed strip clubs, but when he is drunk his mind works in different ways. Now he is sober he can only condemn himself for his actions and be sure not to let Hayley find out what was including on his business trip. Yes, business was the main reason of the trip, but when they finished the project earlier than planned, pleasure quickly replaced business and became the new main reason for the trip.

He runs a hand through his blonde curly hair, which seems to have grown a lot as of recent and sighs. His mind suddenly wonders to what Hayley has done while he has been away. Probably spent everyday with Elijah complaining about his terrible drinking habits. Klaus knows he drinks too much, but why spend life doing the things that you dislike when you could simply open a bottle of scotch and enjoy it?

There is no way he is imagining that Elijah enjoys Hayley's company a little too much. He knows what it's like to be in Elijah's position, to want what you can not have. However, there is one big difference between the brothers, Klaus sees what he can not have and takes it anyway, Elijah does not take what he can not have... or does he?

Hayley walks in slowly and sees Klaus sat on the bed with his head down. Unsure of what mood he is in she treads lightly and makes sure she doesn't stand too close to him in case of another lash out. She does not fancy being pinned against a wall again.

Klaus looks up and gives her a small, genuine smile.

"You look nice" Klaus says, surprising both of them.

A little taken back, Hayley doesn't know what to say. She can't remember the last time Klaus complimented her unless it was about sex, or something she cooked and even that is rare.

She smiles in response and Klaus clears his throat and sits up before speaking again.

"I've been thinking... I owe you an apology" Klaus says quietly in his strong British accent.

Hayley folds her arms and waits for him to continue. She knows he is finding this hard; he has never been good at saying sorry, or admitting when he is wrong.

"I should of just asked you if you were involved with Elijah instead of assuming and acting on a theory. It won't happen again" Klaus says and Hayley nods her head. She isn't entirely sure whether to believe him, after all he is a complete different person when he is drunk.

"Besides, I know my brother, he wouldn't do that to me" Klaus adds and Hayley's heart stops.

Hayley bites her lip to stop herself from telling Klaus the truth. She hates lies. She always has, she would much rather know the truth, or be given the truth than hide behind lies. But this is one lie she has to keep. She knows Klaus will go off the rails, sober or not if he finds out what has just happened. Last night was one thing, she can blame that on the alcohol, but the kiss was nothing to do with how much they had to drink. The kiss was fuelled by the strong connection they feel towards one another.

This is a lie she will have to keep.

"He's a good man. You should trust him more. He's just looking out for his family" Hayley doesn't know whether she is trying to convince Klaus, or herself.

"The noble Elijah." He pauses. "He always was the good brother" he says, staring at a spot on the floor as his mind begins to wonder.

Before he can fall too deep into his thoughts, he shakes his head and gives Hayley a small smile before he stands up. He turns away from her and starts to unpack his bag. Hayley watches him cautiously and takes a step closer to watch him pull the dirty clothes out of his bag.

"What did you do while I was gone then? Did you have fun?" Klaus asks purely because he wants to know if she mentions Elijah.

"I just stayed in and watched films with Elijah mostly... I went to the gym too" Hayley adds, making sure she talks about more than just Elijah.

"Sounds like you had a nice relaxing few days" Klaus says and takes the last item out of his bag before he turns back around to face his wife.

Hayley nods and starts to fidget with her hands, feeling nervous and anxious about what could happen next.

"I have to go and see Rebekah, and make sure she doesn't hate me completely" Klaus says and Hayley gives him a quick smile.

He picks up his dirty clothes and tucks them under one arm before walking closer to Hayley. He stops when he is right in front of her and puts his hand on her shoulder. She shakes slightly, unsure of what he might do after the last time he lay a hand on her.

"Hayley, I know you trust him, but be careful of Elijah. He never did quite get over what I did to him and Katherine, he could just be using you for some kind of revenge" Klaus says and Hayley's heart drops again.

Surely he wouldn't use her, all of his intentions have been good. He has been there for her, supported her, held her when she cried, taken her out for a fancy meal. He's done everything he could to make her happy again and it has been working. But now, she is starting to question everything.

Klaus gives Hayley a rare, chaste kiss on the cheek and then says "see you", before he leaves.

Hayley however, doesn't move. She doesn't know what to do. For the first time in her life she has found a man who she feels like she might actually like, but it's at the complete wrong time in her life because she is married to his brother and now she finds out he might be using her.

And she is a cheat. Hayley feels her heart almost physically crack into two. She is a cheat. After all of the years she has hated cheats and said how terrible they are, after feeling herself hate Klaus for going behind Elijah's back with his ex, she went and cheated on her husband. She went against her morals, she destroyed almost all of her self-respect, and all just so she could have the chance to kiss one man.

Tears well up in her eyes and she shakes her head. Her behaviour is not acceptable. If Klaus cheated on her she would be mortified, despite what he has done to her and despite the fact that they were never truly in love.

Slowly, she turns to leave her room and there he is stood in the doorway... Elijah. He has one hand, his left, in his pocket and the other draping by his side. Even now after the horrible thoughts that have just attacked her mind, Hayley cannot help but think he looks absolutely gorgeous stood there like that. So casual yet so smart.

She wants to run to him, but she won't.

"You got all your pictures?" She asks, putting her defences up and trying to shut him out.

"Not quite, but I should have enough" Elijah replies and gives her a half smile.

Hayley nods her head .

"I was wondering if you are staying home tonight?" He asks and Hayley folds her arms again.

"Yeah, why?" She responds and Elijah gives her a small smile.

"I'm going to cook" he tells her and Hayley can't help but let a smile slip through. She loves Elijah's cooking.

Elijah can tell Hayley is being slightly off with him but he puts it down to the fact she has just seen her husband seconds after kissing him. He has never been one to agree with cheats, or cheating, but he couldn't deny himself the feeling of her lips on his. They may regret it sometime in the future if Klaus finds out, but for now Elijah doesn't regret a single moment of it.

"What are you making?" Hayley asks, a small smirk still lingering on her face.

"You'll have to wait and see" Elijah says and gives Hayley an adorable smile before leaving, probably to go and start his cooking.

Hayley remains stood still in her room. She is having a major internal conflict right now between one side of her which is determined to stay loyal to Klaus and possibly start to distrust Elijah. And another side of her which is falling away from Klaus and falling a little too close to his older brother. Maybe she should trust Klaus over Elijah, he is her husband after all. But Klaus is renown for letting Hayley down and destroying any faith she puts in him.

These are times when she could really use Rebekah's counselling.

The right thing to do would be to let Elijah down gently and pretend nothing happened before slithering back into Klaus' arms. But how would Elijah react to being let down? Would he lash out the way Klaus did? She really hopes not. Would he tell Klaus about their kiss, knowing that Klaus would lash out? No, surely not. Elijah isn't that kind of man judging on the sides Hayley has seen of him so far.

So, going back to her unhappy marriage and giving it another shot is the right thing to do... but Hayley has always enjoyed being a bit of a rebel. This is not something she should be deciding right now, things like this take time and to try and stop herself from losing herself in her thoughts, Hayley goes to put Klaus' bag back under the bed where it belongs. As she lifts the bag, it feels heavier than an empty bag should. She puts the bag back onto the bed and opens it up to see an empty bottle of scotch.

Hayley feels her heart fill with anger. She was just about to push Elijah away and try and give Klaus a second chance, and now this... this changes everything.

There is no way Hayley will give her marriage another chance if Klaus has been away getting drunk with all of his dodgy work friends. All of them are bad influences and that is really saying something considering Klaus is far from being an angel himself.

Hayley bites her lip hard and stares down at the empty bottle. There are so many different ways she could play this out. Confronting Klaus is one option, not the safest one but definitely an option. Another is telling Rebekah and letting her try to pry information out of her brother, or maybe she could continue this thing with Elijah for awhile. Maybe doing nothing is the right thing to do. She could just pretend she never saw the bottle, try her hardest to resist Elijah's charms and tell Rebekah everything is fine. But that would be a lot of lies. Hayley wonders whether she can keep up with that many lies without breaking and telling everyone the truth.

Unable to decide what to do because of the millions of thoughts wildly running through her brain, Hayley shakes her head and wonders to the kitchen, where she knows she will find Elijah. She leans against the wall and looks into the kitchen to see Elijah with his back to her while he hovers over the grill. Hayley can see he has his black shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and part of his shirt is not tucked in.

Slowly, she scans over everything in the kitchen and folds her arms. On the kitchen island are two chopping boards. One has pieces of finely chopped radishes, pieces of torn lettuce, a handful of snap peas and a scallion on it. While the other has a thin bottle of olive oil, white vinegar and a small shaker of salt on it. Hayley is quite shocked to see how much food is out, mainly because she didn't even know they had all of this in the cupboards.

She watches as Elijah opens the grill and pulls out two steaks before turning to face her and putting the tray on the second chopping board. Hayley bites her bottom lip as she looks him up and down. She wishes she didn't but she feels even more attracted to him than before.

Elijah gives her a small smile as he uses a steak knife and a fork to lift one piece of steak off the tray and onto a plate. He then sprinkles some salt onto the steak and repeats this action with the second piece of meat before moving to the other chopping board. He lifts the pieces of lettuce, the pieces of radish and the snap peas together with his hands and puts a neat pile on both of the plates next to the steaks. He then quickly, but carefully and very skillfully chops up the scallion before adding that on top of the salads.

He lets out a deep sigh as he looks down at his work for a few seconds. He then looks at Hayley and gives her a small smirk as they make eye contact before he lifts both plates and places them on the other side of the island where the two stools are. Hayley slowly makes her way to her seat, sure she can hear Jack's claws clicking behind her, no doubt he will be expecting her to give him some of her meal. But tonight, she won't be sharing.

Elijah goes to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of red wine before grabbing two glasses from one of the cabinets. Hayley has no idea where he is getting all of this stuff from, but she definitely isn't complaining. Elijah pores two glasses of wine and places one in front of Hayley and one in front of his own meal before he sits down next to her ready to tuck in.

Hayley picks up her knife and fork and looks down at the food on her plate. It looks wonderful. She is tempted to take a picture and post it on Instagram, or Twitter.

"I don't know where to start" she says and Elijah smiles at her.

"Try the steak" he says as he cuts into his own meat.

Hayley takes his advice and starts to cut into her steak. Elijah watches her and only takes his first bite when Hayley takes hers. She closes her eyes as the flavours rush through her mouth and down her throat, and makes her mouth water... she has never tasted anything this good. After chewing and swallowing her little slice of heaven, Hayley looks at Elijah and smiles.

"This is brilliant, Elijah. You should really do this for a living, you could make millions" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles as he continues to eat his food.

"I don't need millions" he says, smiling.

"Make the money and give it to me" Hayley suggests jokingly before taking another bite.

Elijah chuckles again before taking a sip of his specially chosen wine.

"What exactly is this anyway?" Hayley asks before Elijah can reply to her joke.

"This is steak and spring salad. You do a medium-rare steak, cut up all of your vegetables and mix them together, add any seasonings you want to the salad and then do the same with the steak. My secret however, is to go against what Raymond Blanc says and add the seasoning before putting the steak in the grill." Elijah explains and Hayley hangs onto his every word.

Hayley has no real interest in cooking, or making fancy dishes, but listening to Elijah explain that and watching him move around a kitchen makes her want to get an interest in cooking. She imagines them cooking together on a Sunday afternoon after doing a full morning workout, if you know what I mean.

She quickly snaps out of her vision and tucks into her food once again, trying not to lose her mind to Elijah.

"I wish I could make anything even close to being as good as this" Hayley says and Elijah looks up from his plate.

"I'll teach you" he says and Hayley looks up.

They remain silent for a few seconds.

"I'm sure I could teach you a few simple, but impressive dishes" Elijah says, the confidence that was in his voice a few seconds ago dented silently.

"I'd be up for that if it isn't too much hassle" Hayley replies and Elijah smiles to himself.

"No hassle at all" he says just load enough for her to hear.

They finish the rest of their meal in a relaxing silence and when they are done, Elijah takes both plates and drops them in the sink ready to be cleaned. He adds any utensils that he used to the sink and starts to wash up. Hayley downs the rest of her wine and takes her glass to the sink quickly.

"Here, let me help" Hayley says as she gently puts her glass in the sink and grabs a towel to dry the plates with.

"You don't have to" Elijah insists, but Hayley shakes her head.

"The least I can do is help with the dishes" she says and takes a now clean knife and starts to dry it.

Elijah smiles and looks down at the plate he is cleaning. Hayley notices this and frowns slightly whilst smiling to herself.

"What're you smiling at?" She asks, playfully.

"You're so stubborn" Elijah says and Hayley looks at him, shocked, but still smiling.

"You really think that's a wise thing to say whilst I have a knife in my hand" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles.

Hayley's smile grows and her heart skips a beat as she hears his chuckle. She tries to tell herself that she can't picture herself falling head over heels for this man, but she can. And she already has, so many times.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way" Elijah says, just in case Hayley took what he said wrongly, even though he doubts she did.

"I should hope not" she says, joking again.

Elijah steps back slightly to look at Hayley and smirks, one eyebrow raised.

"Or else what?" he asks, his tone extremely flirtatious.

Hayley gives him a small smirk back before biting her lip and flicking water at him. Elijah tries to block it with one of his hands but fails and ends up getting splashed all over his shirt. Hayley laughs but also steps back from him, knowing that he will most likely splash her back. Elijah looks up from his wet shirt and is smirking at Hayley again, this time his smirk is more evil and Hayley gets ready to run.

Elijah grabs one of the wine glasses from the sink and chucks the water inside of it at her. She ducks but it hits her anyway and she starts to laugh. Elijah also laughs at the sight of Hayley crouching on the floor, blocking her face from the water. However, she quickly jumps up and makes her way towards the sink again.

"I don't think so" Elijah says and lifts Hayley into his arms before she can flick anymore water at him and carries her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Hayley laughs loud and carelessly for the first time in what feels like forever as Elijah carries her to the couch. She sees Jack stood by the kitchen island wagging his tail before she plummets into the couch. She laughs even louder as Elijah holds her down by her wrists, with one leg in between both of hers. He looks down and laughs with her and she feels butterflies fluttering around aggressively in her stomach.

Their laughter finally settles, but none of them move. They maintain eye contact for a few minutes, staring into each others eyes and also into each others souls. And as much as Hayley could do this all evening, she has other things in mind.

Quickly, she frees her hands from his grasps and pulls his lips down to hers in a fiery, passionate kiss. Their lips lock for the second time today and their hands claw and caress each other desperately. Elijah's hands find themselves travelling all over Hayley's body. One of his hands slips behind the back on her head and tangles in her soft, curly hair, while the other settles dangerously low on her body at her hip, stroking circles on her delicate skin just under her top.

Hayley has one hand on the back of Elijah's neck, pulling him back to her every time he strays too far and the other holds on tightly to the collar of his shirt, squeezing tighter every time she feels a tingle shoot down her body to her most private area. She can't remember the last time kissing anyone felt this good and she doesn't want to. All she wants is to be absolutely intoxicated by Elijah Mikaelson, and apparently the feeling is mutual.

After a good twenty minutes of clawing at each others clothes and clinging to each other as they sink even deeper into their kiss, they finally pull apart. They are both out of breathe and can't seem to fully move away from each other, as Elijah remains on top of Hayley and Hayley continues to pull him down.

They both hear a small whining sound come from next to them and when they look to the left they see Jack sat there staring back at them. Hayley laughs and hides her face in Elijah's shoulder for a few seconds before emerging again and smiling up at him.

"I better go feed him" Hayley states and Elijah smiles down at her before nodding and getting up. Once he is standing, he offers his hand out to help her up and she accepts it.

Jack trots on in front of Hayley and she quickly follows him back into the kitchen. She quickly pores some dog food into his bowl and he happily starts to eat it. Hayley looks down at him for a few seconds and lets out a deep breathe before turning to see Elijah coming back over to the kitchen.

He looks up at her and gives her a small, cheeky grin.

"I'll finish the dishes" he says and Hayley smiles back at him.

"Okay... well, I'm gonna go and get a shower" Hayley says and she is sure she hears Elijah chuckle as she speed walks out of the kitchen and down the corridor to her en-suite bathroom, shutting all doors behind her.

After letting out another deep breathe, Hayley starts to run a cold shower and strip out of her clothes. She steps into the shower and is extremely thankful for how calming the water is as it glides off her skin. She certainly did not expect things to get that out of hand, but in a way she is glad they did. Now she knows what her decision will be... and there is no way she can miss out on bedding that man.


	15. Chapter 15

Hayley comes in from her jog with Jack and plops herself down on the couch. Jack runs over to his water bowl and starts gulping down his water as fast as he can. Hayley looks around and notices the mail on the coffee table in front of her. She leans forwards to collect it and slowly flicks through it. Two bills and a letter from the doctors, probably about the new opening times, nothing new.

Feeling tired after her longer than usual run, Hayley closes her eyes and allows her mind to wonder to yesterday when she and Elijah let their emotions get the better of them. She wishes they could have taken things further, but the risk of getting caught was too great. If Klaus had of caught them he would of beat Hayley senseless and probably attempt to murder Elijah in his sleep. But it would have probably have been worth it to be able to share such intimacy with Elijah.

Hayley sighs and opens her eyes to see Elijah sat in the chair directly opposite her with a book in his hand. She jumps a little but regains her composure quickly, not wanting to embarrasses herself even the slightest in front of Elijah. He looks up at her and smiles before quickly returning his eyes to the pages of his book. Hayley admires him from head to toe as she always does and just like usual, she likes what she sees. The usual black suit pants and a light grey shirt with a black tie... he looks divine. She doesn't fail to notice the duffel coat on the side of his chair.

She hasn't said a word to Elijah since yesterdays hot make out session and is slightly nervous about speaking to him, she has been all morning, but she knows she has to speak to him eventually. Besides, even if she doesn't say something to him, he will eventually say something to her, or worse, he won't and things will become incredibly awkward.

"You going out?" Hayley asks, nodding towards his coat when he looks up at her.

"Yes, I told Rebekah I would take her out for a meal" he replies and turns the page of his book over. "I'm just waiting for her to text me and I will be out of your way."

Hayley feels quite disappointed; she was hoping to break the ice with Elijah and then drag him to her bedroom so they could break the bed as well. She smiles evilly to herself as naughty thoughts infiltrate her mind. However, she quickly stops smiling and gets rid of any dirty thoughts when she realises Elijah is looking at her.

She smiles at him and he smiles back.

"How was your run?" He asks, putting his book to one side.

"Exhausting. I think I might just shower and go straight to bed I'm that tired" she tells him and he smiles.

Elijah checks his watch on his left wrist and then looks back up at Hayley. She tilts her head slightly and gives him a questioning look.

"Klaus should be home soon" he says and Hayley feels her stomach drop. That is not what she wanted to hear.

"That's something to look forward to" Hayley says, sarcastically.

Elijah chuckles at her and looks down for a few seconds. When he looks back up there is a more serious and concerned look on his face, one that Hayley has only seen on him once before: when Klaus choked her.

"Will you be okay here on your own with him?" Elijah asks, his voice gentle yet strong and slightly protective.

Hayley goes to answer him but then stops. She doesn't know how to answer him. She knows she should just say yes because that should be the answer when someone asks if she is safe at home alone with her husband. But the real answer is that she doesn't know whether she will be okay. Her safety all depends on Klaus' mood and how much he has drank.

She smiles at Elijah and sighs.

"I'm sure I'll be fine" she settles with, knowing that Elijah will understand.

And he does. He gives her a small, sad smile and rises from his seat to make his way over to her. Just as he does, his phone goes off. Elijah pulls his phone from his pocket and sees a message from Rebekah on his screen. He looks back up at Hayley and she gives him an understand smile.

Slowly, he pulls his coat on and puts his phone back in his pocket before he walks over to wear Hayley is sat. Once he is stood right in front of her he drops to one knee and Hayley panics for a moment. He takes one of her hands in his and kisses the back of it gently, making her panic even more. He looks up at her and they stare into each others eyes for a few seconds before Elijah speaks.

"I won't leave you with him for too long. If you need me, phone me."

Hayley feels tears well up in her eyes, no one has ever cared about her this much, she isn't sure what to say. She considers not saying anything, but when Elijah doesn't move after a minute it becomes obvious he wants some kind of reaction from her. So, she nods her head and puts her free hand on top of his hand which is holding her other hand before squeezing it reassuringly. Elijah gives her a small, half smile and she forces a smile back at him.

He stands and leans down closer to her face. She is sure he is going to kiss her, but instead he plants a long, lingering kiss on her cheek, one hand resting just under her jawline to hold her there. When he pulls his lips away from her cheek, he pauses near her ear, trying to find the right words to say. When he doesn't find the right words, he settles with a simple 'I'll see you later' before he leaves.

Hayley closes her eyes again and waits to hear the door slam behind him so that she is official alone in her apartment. The slam does not come. She turns around and to see Klaus stood in the door typing on his phone, one shoe off, the other about to come off when he has finished whatever important message he is sending. She watches as he kicks off his other shoe, drops his briefcase next to them before shutting the door and making his way into the kitchen.

Dreading what will happen next, Hayley stands up to leave the room and go anywhere where Klaus isn't. However, as she is collecting Elijah's book from the arm of the other chair, Klaus walks into the living room, glass of scotch in hand. She tries to ignore his presence, but it is hard when she can feel his eyes watching her every move. She feels extremely uncomfortable.

"Don't leave on my account, there's plenty of room in here for the both of us" Klaus says, his strong British accent filling the apartment.

Hayley freezes, her back to her husband. She doesn't want to stay but by the sound of Klaus' voice what he said was not a suggestion. She sits down where Elijah was sat just minutes ago and holds the book tightly in her lap. A reminder that Elijah is only a phone call away if she needs him. Klaus slowly walks to the seat Hayley was in and sits down, looking right at her and putting her under a lot of unwanted pressure.

"You were awfully quite last night" Klaus says before taking a sip from his glass.

"Yeah, I wasn't feeling so good" Hayley lies. The real reason she tried her hardest to not speak to her husband last night was because just an hour before he returned home, she kissed his brother.

"I hope Elijah was taking care of you whilst I was working?" Klaus asks, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

At this point, Hayley knows he is drunk and is not looking forward to how he reacts to the response she is about to give.

"Yeah I guess so" she replies, trying not to say that he was in case she causes his anger to spill out of control again.

"Well, he either was or he wasn't, which was it?" Klaus says rather snappy before downing the rest of his drink.

Hayley considers saying no, but she knows he won't believe that.

"Yeah he looked after me" she says quietly.

Klaus nods his head angrily and stands up.

"Of course he bloody did" he says as he walks to the kitchen to get himself another drink.

Hayley can hear him muttering things to himself in the kitchen and she starts to feel extremely nervous. She isn't safe with him right now and the best thing to do is find an excuse to get away from him. But what excuse will he accept without lashing out? He might accept the excuse of needing the toilet, or he might tell her to hold it in whilst he is speaking. He definitely will not accept the excuse of needing to feed Jack because he knows that Jack has already been fed before their run. And if she says she is tired and wants to go to bed, which is the truth, he will keep her from sleeping by arguing with her all night anyway. She has to stay and put up with his crap.

All too soon, Klaus comes back with a full glass and a bottle of scotch. Hayley considers just running for the door as she watches him sit down opposite her and take a big slurp of his drink. His current state should cause him to be too slow to grab her on the way past, but she knows better. He will jump up, catch her and beat her. And quite frankly, Hayley does not fancy a beating now, or ever.

Her final option is texting Elijah, or Rebekah. Even that isn't a real option because the second she picks up her phone, Klaus will get angry that she is texting and not listening to him instead. Besides, even if she does manage to text Elijah, she will have already suffered before he gets here. In this situation she can not win.

"You're being quite tonight as well" Klaus says, breaking Hayley from her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing" Hayley replies instantly, grateful he can't see inside her Elijah infested mind.

"Don't lie to me, I know you're thinking about him" Klaus says and pauses before continuing. "I bet he took real good care of you last night, didn't he?"

Hayley doesn't reply. So, Klaus carries on.

"Rushed to your side with cold flannels and hot water bottles. Happily jumped up to make you a hot chocolate, or a cool glass of water, which ever you desire the noble Elijah will get it for you" Klaus pauses and sits forwards in his seat. "Pampered you like a spoilt princess."

"Stop!" Hayley shouts at him, surprising herself and Klaus.

But she has every right to shout, his teasing has gone too far and he is being unbelievably immature. She shouldn't have to put up with this off anyone, let alone her husband. From now on, she won't take it. Hayley stands up and stares down at Klaus, glints of anger and hatred filling her eyes.

"I'm not going to argue with you because it's stupid and really isn't worth it. I am going to bed. Come and join me when you can act like a real man instead of an immature child" she says, firmly and turns her back on him as she walks away.

"Don't walk away from me, Hayley" Klaus says, a very clear threat in his voice.

Hayley ignores him and continues to walk away from him. She feels good that she stood up for herself, but a part of her is telling her that this is not the end of the situation. She knows Klaus far too well to even begin to think that he will let her walk away from him without any kind of punishment. And she is right.

Just as she reaches their bedroom door, Hayley is yanked back by her hair and thrown against the wall before falling to the floor. She puts a hand on the part of her head which hit the wall and slowly looks up to see Klaus hovering over her. The look on his face is simple enough for absolutely anyone to read as it only displays one emotion... rage. Pure and utter rage.

Hayley knows she should at least try and escape, but what's the point. She has been in this situation before when her father use to beat her. She would get hit, try to stand up but end up going dizzy and he would hit her again and again, and again. So, instead she will lie here and take whatever comes next because it sure as hell beats failing tragically to escape her abuser just to see the smug look on his face when he catches her.

"Don't ever walk away from me" Klaus says, violently.

Klaus grabs Hayley's Jacket collar and pulls her closer to him. He stares into her eyes, seeing only her pain and a reflection of himself. He doesn't like what he sees. And yet still, he makes no attempt to stop himself from raising his right fist and hitting Hayley in the face. Once isn't enough either. He hits her three more times before he drops her to the floor and watches her curl up in a ball, wrapping her arms around her face to protect herself from any more blows.

Klaus looks down at Hayley and sees himself as a child, cowering before his drunk, angry father. Why is he making Hayley suffer like this when she has not only been through it before, but he has also been through this kind of abuse and felt just how much it can effect a person physically and emotionally? He has no answer for himself.

He hears Hayley's muffled crying and he swallows as he feels tears prick at his own eyes. He doesn't let his tears fall. Instead, he walks into the living room, grabs his half empty bottle of scotch, slips his shoes on and leaves. At the sound of the slamming door, Hayley really lets loose. Her quiet cries become a loud and desperate cry for help. But just like all of the previous times, no one comes and Hayley is alone. She feels so alone and scared. And there is only one thing she can think to do.

After several minutes of holding herself and crying silently, her shaky hands reach into her jacket pocket and pull out her phone. Jack emerges from the kitchen and runs to her side instantly, for once there is no wag in his tail. He sits next to Hayley and rests his head on her shoulder for a minute before he nuzzles her shoulder, asking for her attention.

Hayley looks at him and sniffles before she strokes just behind his ear. Jack leans into her hand and squeezes in as close as he can get to her as she scrolls through the contacts on her phone with her other hand. Tears overflow from her eyes as she hears the ringing sound and she prays to god that he answers... he doesn't. Desperately, she tries again.

As the phone rings, Hayley lifts her hand to her head where she banged into the wall and pulls her hand away again to see blood on her fingers. She starts to shake even more and Jack whines and cuddles even closer to her to try and comfort her. He licks her cheek softly before nuzzling his head into her neck again and she hugs him back. Jack has always been there for her since the very first argument her and Klaus had and she is happy that he is still here for her now. Even if he doesn't fully understand what is going on.

The ringing stops and Hayley feels herself fill with dread, until a voice comes from the phone.

"Hello?" Elijah's voice almost echos through the empty apartment it is that silent.

Hayley is too relieved to say anything. The sound of his voice is just too much for her. She bursts out into tears and puts the phone on speaker before placing it on the floor next to her and Jack.

"Hayley? What's wrong?" Elijah asks, clear panic and worry in his voice.

Hayley tries to speak, she really does, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't get pasted 'I'. She can physically feel her heart breaking and it is killing her. She tries her best to calm herself down, but she isn't doing a very good job.

"Did he hurt you?" Elijah asks, gently yet angrily and Hayley is sure she hears Rebekah start shouting threats against Klaus in the background.

It makes her want to smile, but she can't.

"Rebekah, calm down, please. Get the check" she hears Elijah say to his ranting sister. He then stays quiet a few seconds before continuing. "Hayley, answer me please. Just let me know you're okay."

His voice is as soft as velvet and Hayley cries even more. She doesn't want to say a word, she just wants to listen to his soft voice comfort her and make her feel safe again. But she knows that if she wants to get help then she needs to speak to him.

"Hayley?" He asks again and this time she answers.

"I need you, Elijah" she says through her tears and sobs. She tries to say more, but she can't manage anything else, she is too broke right now and she can't stop crying, or shaking.

"It's going to be okay, Hayley, we're on our way. Just stay there, we'll be there soon, I promise" Elijah says and with that he is gone and Hayley is alone again.

She lets her weak body rock her to the side until she falls and hits the floor. She curls up into the smallest ball she can possibly form and bites her lip hard as she cries. Jack whines again and steps behind Hayley before lying closely behind her so that his warm body is pressed against her cold and empty one. He rests his head on top of her so he can see anyone approaching them and protect his beloved owner.

"Good boy, Jack" Hayley whispers quietly in between her sobs.


	16. Chapter 16

It is very rare that Elijah Mikaelson runs anywhere. It is hard to look elegant whilst running in a suit, so Elijah avoids ever having to go any quicker than a fast walk. But the second Rebekah pulls up outside of Hayley's apartment building, he jumps out of the car and runs as fast as he can. He is also usually a man of incredible patience, yet he can't help but wanting to scream and shout when the wait for the elevator to reach Hayley's apartment seems to take far too long. Not to mention how bad his road rage was on the way here despite him not being the one who was driving.

The elevator doors open and Elijah rushes out of them, praying to god that the door to the apartment is unlocked so he doesn't have to waste time waiting for Rebekah to come up with her key. The door opens for him and within seconds of entering the apartment, Jack comes skidding into the living room. Elijah holds his hand out as Jack reaches him and strokes the dogs head a few times before standing up straight again and looking around.

"Hayley?" He doesn't receive an answer.

Elijah feels his stomach drop at the complete and utter silence of the apartment. He doesn't like it. He enjoys silence, but this he does not like. It is far too quiet, not a nice peaceful silence either. Jack isn't acting how he usually does either. He doesn't seem comfortable being here. Elijah strokes the dog's back before going towards the kitchen to look for Hayley. Before he can even enter the kitchen, Jack starts to whine and Elijah turns to him and frowns.

"What is it?" He asks Jack and Jack jumps on the spot and turns before trotting off down the corridor.

Unsure what to do, Elijah quickly roams his eyes over the kitchen and when he doesn't see Hayley he decides to follow Jack. He rounds the corner and instantly sees Jack sat next to Hayley who is curled up in a small ball as if she is trying to hide from the world. Elijah lets out a sad breathe and resists crying as he quickly makes his way down the corridor to her, dropping to his knees when he reaches her.

Carefully, Elijah places his hand on Hayley's back and he instantly feels her shaking. He removes his coat quickly and drapes it over her to hopefully stop some of the shaking. He then slowly tucks some of her hair behind her ear and strokes down her back to try and comfort her.

"Hayley... it's me" Elijah says, his tone as gentle as possible.

Hayley suddenly dives at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs tightly around his waist. Elijah only just about has time to catch her frightened form and wrap his arms around her as he leans back against the corridor wall to stop himself from falling. Rebekah comes charging in and stops in her tracks when she sees Elijah holding a weeping Hayley in his arms. Elijah looks over Hayley's shoulder and makes eye contact with his sister. Rebekah can see the guilt in her brother's eyes and she knows he will blame himself for this.

Rebekah can hear Hayley's quiet cries from where she is stood and she is hit with a very intense hatred for Klaus. She has always known that he is capable of terrible things, she use to watch him torture and kill slugs with Kol when they were children, but she would have never predicted this. The threat of violence was always there and he was always happy to fight with their brothers as they were growing up, but she did not think things would come to this.

She watches as Elijah rubs soothing circles on Hayley's back. Hayley clings to him even more, desperate to feel some kind of safety and security. Seeing them like this makes Rebekah wish that it was him Hayley met all of them years ago instead of Klaus. After everything she has been put through by Klaus, she deserves better. And Elijah is better.

Elijah looks at Rebekah again and she nods to him before walking back into the living room. She stands there for a few seconds looking around, unsure what to do with herself accept wait for Klaus to come back and yell at him. But why should she wait? Rebekah pulls her phone from her back pocket and walks out of the apartment, closing the door behind her so Elijah and Hayley don't hear her shouting.

She scrolls through her contacts and finds Klaus' name before clicking on it. She flicks her hair as she puts the phone to her ear and clears her throat to prepare for when he answers. She doubts he will answer; he will know exactly what Rebekah is phoning for and he won't want to deal with her shouting at him. The amount of times he has argued with Hayley and made her cry and Rebekah has phoned him to yell at him only to be ignored and avoided.

But to her surprise, Klaus picks up.

"I'm busy, what is it, Rebekah?" Klaus says, opening the phone call and aggravating Rebekah even more.

"What is it?! What is it?! Are you being fucking serious?! You hit her, Klaus, you fucking hit her!" Rebekah screams louder than she means to down the phone.

"She's been shacking up with him, of course I bloody hit her!" Klaus shouts back, from the tone of his voice he is clearly very drunk.

"Oh, shut up you alcoholic piece of shit, she is not shagging Elijah. And even if she was, you don't hit her, you hit him you stupid coward!" Rebekah really hopes she is right and Hayley isn't sleeping with Elijah. She will look really stupid defending her right now if Klaus is right about everything. But still, he should have never hit her.

"Believe me, I would of done more than hit that bastard if he was there! And you have no fucking right to call me a coward when your man is too fucking scared to tell you he would rather be in clubs having sex with random women than staying at home, getting you pregnant!"

Rebekah snaps.

"My relationship is none of your blood business and if you ever bad mouth Marcel again, I will personal phone father and tell him all about the disgraceful little bastard you have become!" She shouts, her voice louder than ever.

"Oh piss off, Rebekah. I'm twenty-six years old, I'm not scared of father anymore" Klaus says down the phone, slurring his words slightly.

"Don't test me, Klaus... you have gone too far this time and you know it" Rebekah says, using her normal voice again. "I suggest you don't return home tonight because if you do you will get a slap off me, and a beating off Elijah."

She hears him laugh down the phone and she clenches her free hand into a fist.

"You disgust me with how close you are to becoming our father" Rebekah says before hanging up, knowing that her last blow was a good one.

In the corridor, Elijah carefully lifts Hayley from the floor and walks into his room instead of hers. He doubts she wants to be in a bed she usually shares with Klaus right now. He walks over to his bed and sits down on the edge of it, Hayley still clinging to him. He nuzzles his head into her neck and smells the coconut shampoo she uses on her hair. She smells divine even after the long jog she went on earlier. He wants to tell her that she smells nice, but the timing is not appropriate.

Slowly, he brings one hand to the back of her head and runs his fingers through her soft hair. He repeats this another two times before he runs the same hand down her back and to her waist. He wraps his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip and he feels her attempt to nuzzle even closer to him, despite it being impossible to get any closer.

"He hit me" Hayley whispers right next to his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

Elijah holds her tighter to him and closes his eyes. He shouldn't have left her here, he should have invited her to come with him. He wishes that he had of asked her to come out with him, all of this could have been prevented.

"He'll do it again" her voice is barely even a whisper now.

Elijah shakes his head as he says "he won't. I'll kill him before he gets the chance."

For the first time in god knows how long, Hayley lifts her head from Elijah's shoulder. Her eyes are red, her cheeks are damp and her bottom lip is wobbly. Still, Elijah thinks she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He slowly raises his hand to the cut on her forehead and gently runs his thumb over it. He then drops his hand to her cheek and strokes her soft skin with his thumb, making Hayley close her eyes and release a shaky sigh.

He knows he shouldn't feel this protective towards Hayley, but he can't stop what he is feeling. He is pretty sure he is falling for her, which is unbelievably ridiculous considering he has barely known her a month. Since the moment he met her, he has felt an inexplicable connection towards her and it won't seem to leave him alone. No matter where he is, or what he is doing, he always has Hayley in the back of his mind.

Elijah hasn't felt like this since Katherine.

Hayley opens her eyes again and Elijah strokes her bruised cheek tenderly with the back of two of his fingers.

"He won't get away with this, Hayley. That I promise you" Elijah says and Hayley looks worried.

"He already has" she says, quietly and Elijah shakes his head.

"A promise is a promise. I won't let him get away with this" Elijah replies, also speaking very quietly.

"You can't do anything" Hayley says, a forgotten tear that got left behind slipping down her cheek.

Elijah quickly wipes the tear with his finger.

"I can do more than you think" Elijah says and Hayley shakes her head.

"Please no, Elijah, you can't" more tears run down her cheeks. "Please, he'll hurt you too."

Elijah pulls her head back onto his shoulder and makes a soft shushing noise into her ear as he rocks her gently. He rubs soothing circles on her back again and kisses the side of her head. He is surprised she still has any tear left in her after all of the crying she has done tonight.

"I'd rather he hurt me than you" he says softly into her ear.

Hayley pulls away from his shoulder again, her cheeks now freshly wet again. She stares into his eyes and sees how genuine he is, and it almost makes her cry again. He is too kind. And she has only just realised that she is straddling him. On any other night she would take full advantage of having Elijah in this position, but tonight is not like any other night.

Yet still, Hayley finds herself lowering her lips to his and Elijah doesn't deny her the comfort she needs. The kiss they share is soft and tender with Elijah being extremely careful that he doesn't cross any lines, except the obvious line which has already been well and truly trampled all over.

After sharing a few more gentle kisses, Elijah pulls away from Hayley and gives her a small, sad smile. She wants to smile back at him, but her body doesn't let her. Elijah tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and she puts one hand on his chest, she can feel his heart beating under hear hand and it makes her feel less alone. He always makes her feel less alone.

"I'll go and get an ice pack for you" he says and Hayley nods, but doesn't move off him.

She quickly wraps her arms around his neck again and they hug for another minute before Hayley crawls off his lap. She instantly misses touching him, but she does need an ice pack to help stop her cheek swelling too much. Elijah stands up and gives her another small smile before he leaves, heading for the kitchen.

Elijah notices Rebekah sat on the couch stroking Jack as he walks into the kitchen and over to the fridge. He opens the freezer section and searches until he finds what he is looking for. He shuts the fridge and grabs a towel off the island to wrap the ice pack in before walking back into the living room. Rebekah turns around and looks at him.

"She okay?" She asks, referring to Hayley.

Elijah sighs as he tries to find the right words to say.

"She will be eventually" he replies and continues to walk back to Hayley.

Just as he is about to disappear down the corridor, the front door opens. Both Elijah and Rebekah freeze when they see a very drunk Klaus stood in the doorway. Rebekah shakes her head at him, she thought he would of listened when she told him not to come back here tonight. Her eyes shoot to Elijah however, when he drops the ice pack and starts to walk over to Klaus, fists clenched.

"Elijah no" Rebekah says and tries to jump in between them, but she isn't quick enough.

Elijah grabs the lapels on Klaus jacket and slams him up against the wall next to the door. The force of Klaus hitting the wall is that strong that Rebekah thinks they might just leave a dint in the wall. She is panicking slightly considering she hasn't seen this kind of rage from Elijah in a very long time. She isn't sure how to deal with him, or Klaus for that matter.

"You are a worthless bastard you know, Niklaus" Elijah says, anger lacing his voice.

"Get your home wrecking hands off me before I break them asshole" Klaus growls back at Elijah.

But Elijah does not move. He isn't frightened by his brothers threat in the slightest, he stands his ground and clenches his jaw tightly as they stare into each others eyes.

"I said get off me!" Klaus shouts and tries to escape his older brother's hold.

He is too drunk to fight and Elijah knows that. So, instead of giving his sibling the beating he deserves, he simply holds him against the wall and glares at him as he fights to escape. Rebekah puts her hand on Elijah's arm and squeezes gently.

"Elijah, come on. We can do this in the morning" she tries to persuade her brother to leave things, but it's as if she isn't even there.

"You heard her, get the fuck off me" Klaus says, his voice still louder than his usual tone

"What were you thinking? You have disgraced this family, you are nothing but a worm dressed in man's clothing" Elijah practically spits insults at his brother.

"Like you have any right to call me a worm when you have been sleeping with MY wife behind my back, you are the only one here who has disgraced this family!" Klaus starts to shout again.

"And that whore that I call a wife can bloody piss off if she thinks she will be getting any kind of apology from me! That stupid bitch deserves everything she gets after what she's done to me!" He continues and Elijah's grip on him tightens.

"She is not a whore!" Elijah shouts back and Rebekah backs away from him. She never has liked it when Elijah raises his voice.

"The best thing you could do for her, and for all of us for that matter, is leave. Leave this city and never come back, because believe me, you are definitely not wanted here" Elijah says, trying his best not to raise his voice again.

"This is my home and my city... the only one who will be leaving is you, brother" Klaus says, with an evil smirk on his face.

Elijah slams his brother against the wall again and Rebekah jumps forwards to try and part them.

"Elijah?" Hayley says from the other side of the room and everything goes silent.

Hayley looks at the scene before her and none of it surprises her. The only thing that does surprise her is that Klaus is still alive, she was sure Rebekah and Elijah would have murdered him the second he stepped through the front door. Luckily for him, it seems they are feeling merciful tonight. Well, Rebekah is at least. Elijah doesn't look to be on the same page as his sister.

"We'll resolve this in the morning" Rebekah repeats as she looks from brother to brother.

Elijah slowly releases Klaus from his grip and backs away from his younger brother. He stares at Klaus with disgust. The same disgust he use to look at father with. He can barely resist hitting him right now, but one thing Elijah is, is a master of control. No matter how hard his fists are clenched right now, he will not hit Klaus. He might tomorrow when he is less intoxicated by the alcohol, but he won't do it now.

Elijah turns on his heel and walks to Hayley, picking the ice pack up on his way past. Hayley doesn't look at Klaus once as she leaves, leading Elijah back down the corridor to his room. Rebekah waits until they are both out of the living room before she turns to look at Klaus and shake her head. He smirks at her and she slaps him right across his cheek. He seems to be very shocked by her actions despite her earlier threat.

"I told you not to come back here" Rebekah says and starts to walk away from him. "I'm having your room for the night" she calls as she turns to walk down the corridor to Klaus' room.

Klaus sinks to the floor and sighs. He has really messed up this time and by the looks of things there is no chance he can make everything right again. His siblings are renown for always giving him forgiveness when he asks for it, but somehow he doesn't think they will be so forgiving this time around. He isn't himself anymore. He relies on the booze to get him through the day and he knows that makes him the same as his father, but he can't help it. He wants to stop, but he can't. Just like he can never seem to do the right thing.

As he crawls to the couch and pulls himself onto it to try and get to sleep, Rebekah shuffles around in Klaus and Hayley's bed. She has borrowed some of Hayley's pj's and is absolutely exhausted after an entire night of family drama. Lucky for her, Jack is lay at the bottom of the bed and when she sighs, he crawls next to her and cuddles up to her. Rebekah smiles and rubs Jack's belly until she falls asleep.

In Elijah's room, Hayley is lay under his sheets in her underwear, holding an ice pack to her cheek. While Elijah is lay next to her, his strong, muscular arm around her torso as he spoons her. This is not how she imagined spending their first night together, but it's better than nothing. It is driving Hayley crazy that she can feel his bare chest against her almost bare back, but she distracts herself well by going through the nights events and figuring out what she will say tomorrow when they sit down and talk about what happened.

Elijah can tell she is overthinking something and he squeezes her gently before resting his chin on her shoulder. Hayley can feel his stubble on the side of her face, she likes it, it's a nice kind of tickle.

"How's your head?" Elijah whispers.

"It could be better" Hayley whispers back.

They go silent again for a few minutes.

"I'm scared about tomorrow" she admits and Elijah frowns.

"I won't let him lay a hand on you" Elijah says and Hayley smiles for the first time all night.

"I don't want to talk to him. I don't even want him in the apartment" she says.

Elijah understands completely and also agrees with her. He doesn't want Klaus in the apartment.

"I'm going to try to help him" Elijah says and then pauses. "Even after everything he has done, he deserves a chance at rehabilitation. I don't think he would of hit you if he had not of been drinking."

"I hate him when he's drunk" Hayley admits, forgetting to add that she pretty much hates him most of the time when he is sober too.

"He is exactly like father when he has been drinking" Elijah says, sadly.

Hayley knows their father is not a nice man. Lucky enough she has never met him and after hearing that Klaus is acting like him right now, she never wants to. She takes the ice pack off her cheek and puts it on the bedside table before placing her cold hand on top of Elijah's which is on her stomach.

"I wish we could always share a bed together" Hayley whispers, feeling the need to change the subject.

Elijah smiles into her shoulder before planting a soft kiss there.

"Maybe one day that will be a reality rather than a dream" he says into her ear and she grins.

"Maybe" she says instead of 'I hope'.

Elijah squeezes her again and kisses her shoulder twice more before resting his head back on his pillow, but keeping his arm wrapped protectively around her.

"Good night, Hayley."

"Night, Elijah."


	17. Chapter 17

Sipping on his coffee, Klaus stands at the island in the kitchen and looks over last nights events. There are clouded parts, mostly the things that were said, but apart from that he can remember everything that happened... and he can confirm that it was not a good night. He remembers getting ridiculously drunk with a work friend before returning home just as Elijah was leaving. He remembers another row with Hayley over something and then he remembers what he did and how badly everything spiralled out of control. He remembers screaming and shouting, being shoved against a wall and being slapped, and above everything, he remembers being compared to their father.

Klaus hates his father. He has always hated him and nothing has ever changed that. He can recall every time that their father hit him or struck him with an object, usually a belt. Klaus and all of his siblings have scars from their father, yet for some reason only Klaus seems to hate him as much as he does. Freya and Finn don't hate him at all actually, then again it was very rare that they ever got a beating; they were the favourites.

Rebekah walks into the kitchen and Klaus is about to put his cup down and smile at her, but she completely ignores him. His grip on the coffee cup tightens, but before the anger can take over again, he quickly walks into the living room and takes a seat in one of the single chairs. He glares at Rebekah for a second and then shakes himself out of it. The last thing he needs right now is to let his drunken anger take over his sober self.

Rebekah comes and sits on the couch to Klaus' left with her own cup of coffee. She blows into the cup before taking a small sip and crossing one of her legs over the other. Klaus feels incredibly awkward and wants to create some conversation, but he has a feeling that Rebekah will not accept any attempt at conversation unless it begins with the word 'sorry'.

Klaus clears his throat.

"So, Rebekah-" she cuts him off.

"Save it for when the others are here, Klaus" she says, firmly but not aggressively and he understands. It isn't her he owes the biggest apology to.

He nods and takes another sip from his cup. His mind slips into a deep trail of thought about their father and how maybe he is at the centre of all of this. He has never fully moved on from what his father put him through, but it has never effected him like this before. Or maybe it has nothing to do with his father at all. Maybe it is just Klaus himself.

Elijah walks in and Klaus glares as he watches his brother pore himself a cup of coffee. Why isn't Elijah affected by what father did to them? Klaus remembers how bad Elijah use to get it. Father saw him as the next head of the family, therefore every wrong had to have a harsh punishment. Klaus always use to think he had it the worst until he saw one of Elijah's beatings. A beating he took for something he didn't do... a beating he took defending Klaus.

Mother had to bathe his wounds for weeks after the beating, but not once did Elijah show any sign that he was in pain. No matter how much blood was shed and no matter how much antiseptic he had to have to treat his wounds, he never showed that he was in pain. Unlike Klaus who would grunt and hiss, sometimes he would even shout and scream.

Finally, Hayley enters the living room.

She sits down next to Rebekah and tucks her feet underneath her. Klaus watches as she whispers something in Rebekah's ear and Rebekah nods before whispering something back. Klaus feels like it is something about him, but he doesn't let it stress him, the air will be cleared soon enough. Hopefully anyway. Nothing is ever certain with this family.

"Shall we begin?" Rebekah speaks up and both Klaus and Hayley nod.

Elijah walks into the living room and sits in the other single chair opposite Klaus. He and Klaus make eye contact for a moment, but Elijah looks away and quickly pays attention to Rebekah to see what she will say next. He is sat tall and is proving just how fearless he is of his younger brother. It makes Klaus want to hit him, but he has not yet forgot what happened the last time they fought over a girl and he is not stupid enough to test Elijah right now. Especially after his behaviour last night.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure where to go from here" Rebekah admits and Klaus smirks to himself.

"Here, allow me to start, sister" he says, shocking the everyone. "I think I owe everyone here an apology."

Rebekah raises her eyebrows, even more shocked than before. Hayley swallows nervously and tries to control her fidgeting. Elijah however, remains still and unfazed by his brother. He has heard his younger brother apologise many times and it is very rare he ever truly means it.

"Rebekah, I am sorry for shouting at you. I would also like to apologise for anything I may of said that upset you in any way, I was not myself last night."

Rebekah blinks in shock and then gives her brother a quick smile.

"Well, I guess I can accept that. Thank you, Nik" she says and Klaus smiles at her, feeling rather smug to have her forgiveness.

Klaus turns to his older brother and waits until Elijah is looking at him before he speaks.

"I would also like to apologise to you, brother. I didn't treat you with the respect that you deserve last night and for that I am sorry. As I said to Rebekah, I was not myself" Klaus finishes and smiles weakly, unsure of what his brother will say.

Elijah seems to take his time processing what Klaus has said before he nods his head slowly and Klaus smiles. That's two down, one to go.

"Hayley" Klaus says and pauses, waiting for her attention.

Finally, Hayley looks up at him. However, Klaus does not expect the look she gives him. There is no longer that sparkle in her eyes that has been there for so long. Now it is dull and cold. Maybe this time the damage can not be undone.

"I am sorry. I know I said this wouldn't happen again and I lied. I wouldn't blame you if you were to never trust me again, but please, Hayley, don't give up on me just yet. I can change... I will change."

Tears shine in Hayley's eyes and Klaus gives her a small, sad smile. He still loves her, even though he hasn't said it for god knows how long, he does. However, Hayley isn't sure how she feels anymore. She still has feelings for Klaus, but she doesn't know if she would consider it love.

"I accept your apology... but it doesn't change what you have done" Hayley says, finding it hard to maintain eye contact with her husband.

"I know that, but come on, I'm trying here, Hayley" Klaus replies.

"I know and I'm grateful for that. I can't just forgive you and trust you that easy again though" she says.

Klaus leans forwards to place his cup on the coffee table.

"I don't know what else to say, love. I've said I'm sorry and that I will change, I think that's all I really can say. If that isn't what you want to hear let me know so I can stop wasting my time" Klaus says and Elijah shakes his head.

"Surely you can understand why she can't trust you instantly, Niklaus. After all, you did go through this yourself" Elijah says and Klaus glares at him.

"I think it is best you don't get involved, brother. Your involvement is what started all of this in the first place" Klaus says, slyly and turns his attention back to Hayley.

Elijah goes to defend himself, but Hayley beats him to it.

"He's got nothing to do with how this started. This all started because you're a bad drunk, it has nothing to do with Elijah, so don't try to pin any of the blame on him" she says and Klaus tilts his head.

"I'm not pinning the blame on anyone, I'm simply stating a fact. Just like the fact that we were perfectly fine living here together before he came along" Klaus says nodding towards Elijah.

"We were not fine at all. You think I was fine with the constant disrespect and arguments with my drunk husband?" Hayley asks and Klaus scoffs.

"We get on fine when I'm sober" Klaus says and Hayley shakes her head.

"No we don't, Klaus. We are broken and we have been for awhile whether you see it or not. You've let the drink change you, even when you are sober you aren't actually yourself anymore" she explains.

"Let me help you, Niklaus" Elijah speaks up.

Klaus lifts his head to looks at his brother, waiting for his noble offer.

"I've helped people with drinking problems before and I know that if you want me to, I can help" Elijah says, his tone soft.

"I don't need help, Elijah. If I want to stop drinking I can, I'm not an addict, I just like to drink" Klaus replies.

Rebekah shakes her head and Klaus glares at her.

"Come on, Klaus, even you must be able to seem that your drinking is entirely out of hand" Rebekah says, folding her arms across her chest.

Klaus shakes his head and runs a hand through his blonde, curly hair.

"Don't you dare all gang up on me about my drinking because I know enough shit about the lot of you to shame you to hell and back" Klaus says, a clear threat in his voice.

"And what the hell is that suppose to mean?" Rebekah says, loudly.

"Believe me, sister, you don't want to know what I have to say about you" Klaus says, an evil smirk on his face.

"Rebekah, don't rise to it, he is trying to provoke you" Elijah says, sitting forwards.

"And it's bloody working, tell me what you are talking about right now, you bastard?!" Rebekah raises her voice.

Klaus sits back and smirks. He is enjoying the game he is playing.

"Like I said, you don't want to know" he teases and Rebekah's anger raises.

"We are completely off topic" Hayley says.

"I couldn't give a shit, I want to know what he knows" Rebekah says and Klaus' smirk grows.

Klaus has no intention to tell Rebekah about the dirt he has on Marcel, but he is happy to tease. Especially when unlike Elijah she takes the bait so easily.

Rebekah stands up and gets close to Klaus as she points in his smug face.

"Listen here you little smug bastard-"

"I think that's about enough of that" Elijah cuts her off and jumps up.

He grabs Rebekah by the waist and pulls her out of the front door. The apartment goes extremely silent once the door closes behind them and Hayley does not like it. She doesn't want to be left alone here with Klaus ever again. She quickly jumps up and walks down the corridor to the bathroom, desperate to get out of the situation.

Klaus sighs and downs the last of the coffee from his cup. He puts the cup back down on the coffee table and sits back in his chair. This chat did not go as planned. He was suppose to make amends with everyone, not cause more arguments. Sometimes he loses himself in the moment and ends up regretting things later, last night being a key example of that.

Elijah comes back in without Rebekah and sits back down in his seat.

"Rebekah?" Klaus asks, wondering where she is.

"She's decided to go home. She mentioned coming to check on Hayley as soon as she has calmed down" Elijah tells him.

They stay silent for a few minutes.

"Hayley?" Elijah asks.

"Toilet I think" Klaus says and Elijah nods.

The silence returns and this time neither of the brothers try to break it. Elijah straightens out his dark green tie, while Klaus plays with the button on the sleeve of his top. They ignore each others presence easily as none of them actually want to be in the same room as each other. The hatred they have for each other overwhelms them far too much for them to see any light, or any love.

Klaus looks up at his brother and frowns. He sees the way Elijah looks at Hayley and there is definitely something there. But both Hayley and Elijah are honest people, so surely if something had happened between them he would of been told by one of them at least. A drunk kiss maybe? Klaus doesn't think he would get to mad over that. But then again with the way he has been acting, he would probably lash out at both of them.

"Where did you sleep last night?" Klaus asks and Elijah looks up at him, face as stoic as ever.

"My room" he replies.

Klaus nods.

"And where did Hayley sleep?"

Elijah remains quiet and Klaus has the answer he needs.

"You slept with my wife" Klaus says as a statement, not a question.

Elijah goes to speak, but Klaus cuts him off.

"How dare you share a bed with my wife!" Klaus shouts and stands up.

"Nothing happened, Niklaus" Elijah lies.

"Regardless, you still slept with my wife! Under my own fucking roof!" he shouts.

Elijah does not respond, letting him get his anger out.

"I might of expected this off her, but never you, Elijah. I guess I was right, there is nothing noble about you at all" Klaus practically spits at his brother.

"What do you mean you would expect this from her?" Elijah asks, getting ready to defend Hayley.

"Well, she's no angel. She was a dirty slut in high school from what she told me, she probably hasn't changed much" he says, grinding his teeth in anger.

Elijah also stands up and points at his brother.

"That, is no way to speak about your wife. No matter what wrong she has done, you as her husband should accept her for who she is instead of judging her on past decisions" Elijah says and Klaus scoffs.

"You are a bloody hypocrite! All you and Rebekah and every last one of you do is judge me on my past decisions. But because your sticking your end in her it's different is it?!" Klaus shouts at Elijah, who does not see fazed.

"You just apologised for being so god damn disrespectful, yet here you are again, disrespecting me in any way you can. It's pathetic how little sorry means to you, Niklaus" Elijah says, aggressively.

"You have no right to ask for my fucking respect after sleeping with my wife!" Klaus shouts.

"After you hit her!" Elijah shouts back and Klaus looks at his brother in shock.

They both stare at each other in silence for a minute. The tension in the room is high and Elijah is sure that if the coffee table wasn't there they would be fighting right now.

"You hit your wife" Elijah speaks in his normal tone again now. "You hurt her and she was scared. I didn't know what to do... so, I took her into my room and treated her wounds. I didn't tell her to sleep there, she chose to because she felt safe."

Klaus scowls at Elijah.

"So, I was right the first time... she is still a slut" Klaus says and Elijah is next to him, pushing him towards the wall in a second.

Just like the night before, Elijah pins Klaus again the wall and they stare into each others eyes. Nothing but hate and anger remains in both of their eyes. Klaus smirks and Elijah clenches his teeth.

"I guess this is where always and forever ends" Klaus says, slyly.

"Another promise you've broken. Just like all of the ones you have broken to Hayley. It's no wonder she enjoys my company so much when her husband neglects her" Elijah says and Klaus pushes his older brother off him.

Elijah quickly steady's himself again and Klaus swings for him. Elijah catches Klaus' fist in midair and pushes Klaus back into the wall before loosing his tie and undoing his top button on his shirt. Klaus chuckles and shakes his head whilst looking down at the floor.

"I don't have time for this. I have to be in a business meeting in New York in 6 hours" Klaus says, checking the watch on his wrist.

Elijah doesn't reply and Klaus steps closer to him.

"I'm working away for 3 days. In those 3 days, I expect you to pack your stuff and get out. I don't care where you go as long as you're not here when I get back" Klaus says, the threat in his voice is obvious despite his calmness.

With that Klaus leaves to go and pack his bag, leaving Elijah stood alone in the living room. He is speechless. He knew his choice of words would get an aggressive response, he was prepared for that, but he didn't expect this. And in all truth, he regrets pushing his brother to this point because now he will have to leave Hayley alone here with him. He won't have the chance to try and help his brother either after this mornings events.

Elijah sighs and shakes his head before he starts walking towards the door. He will go and check on Rebekah and come back later for his stuff. There is no point staying longer to annoy Klaus even more. But as he reaches the door, Hayley enters the living room.

"Where are you going?" She asks quickly as she sees Elijah's hand on the door knob.

Elijah turns back to look at her and a small smile crosses his features. He allows his eyes to roam over her, admiring every inch of her beauty. Even in some jogging bottoms and an oversized hoodie she looks gorgeous.

"Niklaus has kicked me out" he says and watches sadly as her face drops, tears shinning in her eyes.

"I don't want you to leave" Hayley says, taking a step forwards towards Elijah.

He gives her a sad smile and goes to her. He knows it isn't the best move to make with Klaus being just down the corridor, but he needs one last bit of contact with her before he leaves. Even if he will be back later. As he reaches her, he pulls her into a tight and warm embrace and she holds onto him with all of her strength.

They stay like that for a few minutes until they hear Klaus slam a drawer shut and Elijah slowly pulls away from Hayley. He sighs and places one of his hands on her cheek with as much tenderness as he can. Hayley leans into his palm and closes her eyes, reopening them to see another sad smile on Elijah's face. He moves closer to her and plants a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead, trying to show just how much he cares all in this one gesture.

He pulls away before saying, "I'll be back soon."

And then he is gone.

Hayley looks at the door, hoping that he will come back through it and take her with him. But when he doesn't return after a minute, she turns and comes face to face with Klaus. He is frowning down at her and she knows that she should run for the door, but she just can't help herself. Her hatred towards him overwhelms her and she finds herself moving towards him quickly.

Hayley shoves Klaus with all of her might, causing him to trip backwards over his suitcase and stumble, but not fall. She pushes him again and his back hits the wall. She knows she is pushing her luck, but this is one argument she wants to have.

"Why did you kick him out?! He's done nothing wrong accept tell you the truth!" She shouts at her husband.

"You and I both know exactly what he has done wrong! He wants you! And I know you want him too, in fact I'm surprised you haven't already cheated on me!" Klaus says, shouting back at her.

Hayley feels her heart drop at the thought of Klaus knowing what she has done. Maybe he does know. Maybe he caught them just then and he has figured everything out. Surely not, or else he would of started an argument with Elijah. She decides that it isn't possible for him to know and continues with her argument.

"You're a dick! I have not cheated on you!" She prays to god that he will believe her lie.

Klaus steps forwards, coming very close to Hayley and for a moment she thinks he might kiss her. He doesn't. He stares down at her in anger, his fists clenched, ready to strike. Hayley is secretly petrified, but she doesn't let him see that as they awkwardly stand in silence for what feels like forever.

"You haven't cheated?" He asks, surprising calmly.

Hayley swallows nervously, "no."

"Promise me" Klaus demands and Hayley blinks in shock.

"What?" She asks, expecting a slap, or a punch to the face for her actions.

"If you haven't cheated you'll have no problem promising me that you have stayed faithful" he replies and Hayley can feel herself dying inside.

He has caught her out. He knows her too well. Hayley can not make a promise she can not keep... and Klaus knows this. He has got her exactly where he wants her and she has no choice but to confess. She can do nothing except stare back at him and hope that he will show her mercy. But Klaus has never been too keen on mercy.

Klaus suddenly sends his fist flying into Hayley's face, he moves too fast for her to react and he hits her right in the jaw. She stumbles backwards, but before she can hit the floor, he grabs her hoodie and punches her again, and again, and again. He does not stop until blood is dripping from her nose, mouth and the small cuts he has created above her lip, above her eye and on her cheek. He looks at her for a few seconds before he lets go of her hoodie, allowing her to fall to the floor, hitting her head upon impact.

Hayley sobs out loud and spits out a pile of blood before curling up into a ball. Klaus stands over her and sighs. He didn't want the day to start like this. He didn't want to hurt his wife, but once he started it was like he didn't know how to stop. He can feel the regret building up inside of him and he quickly grabs his suitcase and leaves.

Hayley starts to shake and she coughs up another pile of blood. She can only imagine how bad her face looks after how hard he hit her. There isn't an ounce of mercy to be found within Klaus, she knows that now. She makes no attempt to move, not even to crawl to the couch where her phone is so she can call someone. She deserves this. All of this pain is what she deserves, just like Klaus deserved the pain Elijah put him through when he slept with Katherine.

She shakes her head slightly, feeling herself about to slip into a deep darkness. She tries her best to keep herself awake but it doesn't help that right now she doesn't want to be alive, let alone anything else. As her body starts to force her towards the darkness, she hears Jack's claws clicking across the floor. She wants to smile because like always, he is coming to her. But no smile appears on her face.

Unfortunately, she doesn't think she will be awake by the time he gets here.

One of her eyes closes and refuses to reopen. While fighting to keep the other one open, Jack appears into sight. He walks to her and drops something right in front of her, but she can't quite make out what it is as her vision starts to become fuzzy. She feels Jack curl himself up around her just before she passes out.

Jack sniffs Hayley before he nuzzles her, trying to wake her up. When she doesn't wake he whines and starts to lick the cut on her cheek as he looks at the empty bottle of Vodka he watched Klaus down just minutes before he started packing.


	18. Chapter 18

Elijah stands in the elevator and waits as it raises to Hayley's apartment. A part of him is screaming at him for leaving Hayley with her monster of a husband, while another part of him is desperately trying to reassure him that Klaus would never hit Hayley whilst he is sober. But with Klaus becoming more and more like their father every day, who knows what he is now capable of when he is sober, considering how bad he is when he is drunk.

Elijah sighs as he remembers the telling off Rebekah gave him for leaving the apartment while Klaus was still there. He had left wanting to get out of the way and prevent angering his brother further, but explaining that to Rebekah didn't stop her shouting at him. And when she was done with Elijah, Marcel was next for the firing line. That was when Elijah left and decided to come back to the apartment. He didn't want to find himself involved in their relationship as well as Klaus and Hayley's. That's if their relationship still stands.

The elevator doors open and Elijah steps off quicker than normal. He lets out a deep breath of air before opening the door and entering the apartment. He expects to see Hayley curled up on the couch with Jack, happy to see Klaus gone, but what he sees is something completely different. Slowly, because of the utter shock he is in, he closes the door and walks into the apartment as he assess the scene before him. Instead of being curled up on the couch, Hayley is curled up on the floor and doesn't look too alive. From where he is standing he can see a pool of blood surrounding her head and a bottle of Vodka sat a few inches away.

Elijah then looks at Jack and as they make eye contact, the dog jumps up and trots over to him. Elijah walks straight past Jack, stroking down his body as he passes him. He drops to his knees behind Hayley's body and checks her neck for a pulse, tears rising to his eyes when he doesn't feel one straight away. However, after a few seconds he feels a faint pulse and lets out a sigh of relief before gently removing a piece of hair out of her face.

Jack lets out a loud whine and he comes to stand next to Elijah. He nudges Hayley with his nose and then looks up at Elijah when she doesn't move. Elijah strokes Jack's head and pulls his head to his for a few seconds, a silent thank you for looking after Hayley. He then carefully puts his arms under Hayley's body before lifting her and carrying her to his bedroom, staring down at her the entire time in case she wakes.

As gentle as he can, Elijah lies Hayley onto his bed. Jack comes running in and quickly jumps up on the bed to take his place at Hayley's side. Elijah sits on the edge of the bed and strokes Hayley's bloodied, but beautiful face. He thinks back to the Vodka bottle on the floor in the living room. It had to have been Klaus'. He must of drank it while Elijah was out, giving him plenty of time to down it and start a fight with Hayley before leaving.

Elijah slowly leans forwards and plants a soft kiss on Hayley's forehead. As he pulls away, she moves slightly. He strokes her face again and she leans her head into his hand. He lets out another sigh of relief and allows his head to fall forwards until his forehead is pressed against Hayley's. She opens her eyes and blinks a few times to wake herself up. Elijah pulls back again and they make eye contact.

Hayley dampens her lips before saying, "you left."

Her voice is quiet and he can only just about hear her. He feels his heart crack.

"Words can't even begin to describe how sorry I am, Hayley. I shouldn't have left, I knew I shouldn't have left. I'm so sorry" Elijah says, tears shinning in his eyes.

"He hit me" Hayley says, her voice just above a whisper.

"I know I have said this before, but I won't let him do it again. I promise you, Hayley, I will protect you from him" Elijah says, a tearful croak in his voice.

He goes to say something else, but stops when Hayley brings her index finger up to his lips and gently presses it on them. She stays like that for a minute before she lets her hand drop. Elijah understands that she doesn't want him to talk and his guilt almost forces him into a mental breakdown, but he keeps it together and continues to focus on Hayley.

Elijah leans forwards again and kisses Hayley on the forehead again. He lingers this time and Hayley closes her eyes as a warmness fills her body slowly. It isn't enough to heal her, but it is enough to give her the energy to carry on for now. She opens her eyes again when he starts to pull away and she lifts her hand to his tie, grabbing it with the little bit of strength she has. She slowly pulls his lips down to hers in an extremely gentle and slow kiss.

The kiss only lasts a matter of seconds, but it makes Hayley feel less alone. Elijah pulls away and strokes her cheek again, not caring that he now has her blood on his hands. All he cares about is helping her heal, mentally and physically.

"I'll go and get you a wet towel" Elijah says, quietly and then leaves.

Hayley closes her eyes again once he has left the room. She lets out a small sigh before opening her eyes again and turning to look at Jack. He pricks his ears up and tilts his head to the side and Hayley gives him the best smile she can manage. She reaches to him and strokes behind his ear, making him close his eyes and relax.

"I'm okay" she tells him as she continues to massage the spot behind his ear.

Jack then shakes his head and crawls closer to Hayley. Once he is close enough, he leans up and starts to lick her chin. Hayley smiles as she feels his soft, yet ridged tounge slide across her chin and she realises this is all she needs. Her loyal, snow coloured Husky and the man of her dreams... Elijah.

But will he still want her after everything that has happened? After she tells him Klaus knows about them? He will probably be mad at her for not lying and just making the promise. Then again, so far Elijah is the complete opposite to Klaus. Maybe he will shrug it off and continue to help her. Hayley hopes that he will, she really does, because right now she honestly cannot see herself living in this apartment with Klaus for much longer.

Elijah returns with a bowl of water with two small towels in it and a box of plasters and bandages. He sits back on the edge of the bed, shuffling closer to Hayley this time so he can clean her up. Hayley watches as he dips the towel into the bowl and then squeezes some of the water out before lifting it to the cut above her eye. He puts the bowl on the bedside table and holds her head still with his free hand while he dabs at the cut.

Hayley cringes in pain and bites her lip, but she lets him continue; she knows this is for her own good.

He repeats the same action for the cut on her cheek and then again for the cut above her lip. Once he has done he places the towel back in the bowl and takes out the other. He clears off as much of the blood as he can with the towel before moving back and looking at Hayley's bruised and beaten face. A small, unintended smile comes to his lips and Hayley gives him a questioning look.

"What?" she asks.

"Even after everything you have been through, you're still beautiful" he says, causing Hayley to grin and look away from him.

Elijah puts the other towel in the bowl and pulls his tie from around his neck. He tosses it at the bottom of the bed and picks up the box of plaster and bandages. He is about to open them when Hayley stops him.

"I'll put them on after I've had a shower" she says and he nods.

Elijah throws the box onto the bed and stands up, allowing Hayley to move. She slowly climbs off the bed and almost falls as she stands, but Elijah is at hand and he grabs her and steadies her straight away. She makes an attempt to push him away, her pride telling her to walk on her own, but he doesn't move. Every step she takes, his hands are steadying her.

When they reach Hayley's bedroom en-suite bathroom, he stands by the door and watches her collect a towel and her shampoo. She can feel his eyes on her and she wants to tell him she can manage, but at the same time she doesn't want him to leave. The last thing she wants right now is to be alone again. She needs him. She hates to admit it because she has never needed anyone in her life, but right now she really does need him.

Hayley places her towel on the toilet lid and puts her shampoo on the rack inside of the shower before she turns to look at Elijah. He is leaning against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest and he looks worried. He has every right to be worried, but Hayley doesn't want him to worry too much. She has had worse beatings than this from her father.

Realising that she wants to get in the shower, Elijah stands up straight and gives her a quick smile.

"I'll leave you to it. Give me a shout if you need anything" he says and goes to leave.

"Elijah" Hayley calls just as he leaves the bathroom.

He turns back and looks at her, waiting for her to speak.

"Could you wait there?" She asks, nodding towards her room attached to the bathroom.

Elijah nods and clears his throat before saying, "of course."

Hayley watches Elijah walk over to her bed and sit down before she shuts the bathroom door. She leans against it for a minute, making sure she is stable enough on her own two feet before she walks to the shower and takes her hoodie off. She unhooks her bra and throws that on top of her hoodie on the floor before she kicks off her jogging bottoms, followed by her underwear. She then turns the warm water on and steps into the shower.

The warm water touches her cuts as she puts her face under the shower and it stings, but they need cleansing properly. As she scrubs any leftover blood off her body, her mind wonders to how today could of gone. They could of sat down and talked about what happened last night and sorted out half of the crap in their relationship. Then Klaus could of left for his trip in a better mood and Hayley would be scratch free.

Then again, everything would probably have been okay if Hayley hadn't of attacked Klaus. She knew that was a huge mistake, but she didn't think she would come out of that situation this bad. Apparently, Hayley is becoming better and better at underestimating Klaus.

Kicking off about someone her husband thinks she is involved with was never a good idea. Hayley regrets not staying quiet and just living with Elijah while Klaus is gone and then leaving with him when Klaus returns. But it is all over now. There is a lot she would change, but none of it she can. The only thing she can change is how she reacts the next time Klaus starts bad mouthing Elijah. She will just have to learn when the right time is to keep her troublesome mouth shut.

While on the other side of the door, Elijah is sat on the bed, twiddling his fingers. He knows he is to blame for all of this. Klaus is right, when he wasn't here there was no complaints. And even though life with Klaus was hard for Hayley, she wasn't a cheat and he wasn't an abusive alcoholic. Maybe all of this was triggered when Elijah showed up. Klaus could of felt threatened by his older brother and started to drink even more and become more aggressive.

Elijah shakes his head; that theory is stupid. It is very rare Klaus feels threatened by anyone and Elijah seriously doubts that his brother would ever feel threatened by him. Maybe father has been in contact with him. That could trigger an entire lifetime of bad memories to send him into overdrive. Or maybe there is a more personal struggle going on. A mental problem perhaps. A lot of people seem to turn to alcohol and drugs to help with mental illnesses these days.

His mind then wonders to Hayley. She is wonderful and beautiful, and she might just be everything he has ever possibly wanted... but she is not his. No matter how much they pretend that they are together with their sneaking around and kissing, it is a lie. Hayley is married to Klaus and that should mean she is off the market, but for some reason Elijah just can't stay away from her.

And with everything going on at the minute, it gives him hope that maybe one day she won't be forbidden fruit. Surely there is no going back from this now. The sensible thing to do would be for Hayley to leave Klaus while they can still stay mutual, and go travelling with Elijah. But Elijah doesn't think that will happen.

The door to the en-suite bathroom opens and Hayley steps out in nothing but a towel. Elijah tries his best not to look at her body, but he can't help but let his eyes roam over her long, slim legs and up to where her cleavage is just slightly on show. The mere thought of touching her whilst she is freshly showered and damp drives him crazy.

Hayley walks over to her mirror and sighs as she looks at her face. She taps the cuts gently so that they don't hurt and runs her fingers over the large bruises around her left eye, her nose and the left side of her jaw. He got her good. She looks at Elijah through the mirrors reflection to see him looking right back at her and she swallows nervously. She feels under pressure with him always watching her, but at the same time she loves that his attention is always focused on her. Something that Klaus fails to do.

"These are bad" she comments as she continues to look in the mirror at her wounds.

Elijah stands.

"I'll get the plasters" he says and leaves the room.

Hayley sighs as the cut on her lip starts to bleed slightly again. She moves her jaw around a bit and feels a bad pain. She also has a terrible pain in her nose, which she is surprised isn't broken with the way Klaus was hitting her.

Elijah returns with a glass of water, two pain relief tablets and the box of plasters. Hayley turns to look at him and smiles when she sees how prepared he is. She walks to him and takes the two tablets before taking a few sips of the water and then walking to her bedside table to place the glass there. She then sits down on the bed and runs her hand through her hair as she closes her eyes. Elijah watches her for a few seconds before walking over to her.

He carefully sits down on the bed next to her and opens the box of plasters. Hayley opens her eyes again and watches as he rips two strips off, big enough for cuts and then puts the box to one side. She turns slightly, lifting her knee up onto the bed so that it is easier for Elijah to put the plasters on. Her open legs are very suggestive, but Elijah controls himself and remains calm.

As gentle as possible, he places the first plaster on the cut on her cheek. He then does the same with the plaster for the cut above her eye before pulling away to make sure he has put the on correctly. When he is happy with his work, he stands up and shuts the box of plasters again.

"What about the one on my lip?" Hayley asks, noticing that he did not put a plaster on that one.

"Around the mouth is an awkward place for a plaster" Elijah says and Hayley nods understandingly.

"Thank you by the way, Elijah. You have done so much for me since you got here, in fact, I'm pretty sure you've done more for me than anyone has in my entire life and I just wanted to thank you for that. I owe you, a lot."

Elijah smiles at her kind words but shakes his head.

"You owe me nothing" he says and puts the box of plasters on the bedside table.

Hayley gives him a small smile and looks down at her hands. She stretches out her fingers and looks at her wedding ring. It was the most expensive one in the shop and she use to cherish it everyday. Now, she couldn't care less if she lost it down the sink. Slowly, Hayley slides the ring off her finger and puts it on her the bedside table. Elijah watches her closely, wondering what she is doing and what her next move will be.

"I should have waited" Hayley says and then pauses. "I should've waited a few more years and just stayed friends with Klaus. Then I would of met you and everything would be different."

Hayley looks up to see Elijah's reaction, but she can't read his expression.

"We might have never met... and any world that we never meet in is a world that I don't want to be a part of" Elijah says and Hayley's eyes light up.

There is no doubt that Hayley's feelings for Elijah are mutual and she intends to act on those feelings.

Hayley bites her bottom lip gently, nervous about how Elijah will react to what she is about to do and then she slowly leans forwards. She stretches her arm out and grabs a handful of his shirt, looking up and making eye contact with him. Their eyes stay locked while she slowly drags him closer to her by his shirt, only stopping once she has him standing in between her legs. Elijah knows exactly what is about to happen and he knows that it isn't the best thing to do, but there is no way he will be able to refuse Hayley.

Elijah strokes her cheek and she looks up at him again, a look of desire in her eyes. He takes that as a sign of encouragement and he leans down, pressing his lips to hers as his hand slips to the back of her head, tangling in her damp hair. This kiss is different to all of their others. It is passionate and deep, but it is also controlled by their lust for each other, and that's why when Elijah pushes Hayley back onto the bed, she happily complies.

He hovers over her for a few seconds before he connects their lips again. Hayley puts everything she has into their kisses, getting more excited for what could happen by the minute. She runs one of her hands down from his neck to his belt on his pants. Using both hands, she quickly flicks the belt buckle open before she pulls his shirt out of his pants, feeling very content as she does it.

Elijah swallows as Hayley runs her hands back up to the collar of his shirt and starts to undo his buttons one by one. He pulls his lips away from hers and they make eye contact for a few seconds before Elijah dips his head to her neck. He kisses her neck and down to her collarbones, which are exposed due to her only being in a towel. A towel which he will soon remove. He suddenly licks back up her neck before reuniting their lips and Hayley's breathing becomes extremely hard to control.

With all of his buttons on his shirt now undone, Hayley moves her hands to his pants and quickly opens the button on them too, then followed by his zipper. Elijah's breath hitches slightly as Hayley's fingers ghost over him whilst she pulls down his zipper and he feels himself growing hard. Hayley also feels this and a small smirk comes to her lips as she pushes her hand into his pant and cups his manhood, making him shiver slightly.

Elijah quickly pulls away from Hayley, kneeling over her as he drags his shirt off and kicks his shoes off. He then drops back onto her, locking lips with her in an extremely arousing kiss as their tongues twist together. Hayley uses her feet to push Elijah's pants down as quickly as she can, she can feel her towel falling away from her in the process, but she doesn't care. She wants him and she wants him now. Elijah kicks his pants to the floor and pushes an arm under Hayley, wrapping his arm around her waist and moving her into the centre of the bed so her head is resting on the pillows.

Her towel is no longer around her and he can't help but stop and admire her glorious naked beauty. No matter how much he wants to just sit back and admire her, he has other things in mind right now. Elijah yanks his boxers down and throws them on the floor, pushing the towel off the bed as well before he comes to hover above Hayley again. They make eye contact again and Hayley gives him a small smile before she bites her lip and pulls his mouth to hers. The kiss is slow and romantic and it is pure perfection to Hayley.

Letting out a deep breath he didn't realise he was holding, Elijah lowers himself slightly and settles on top of Hayley. She lets out a quiet moan as his lips move to her neck once again and she feels his hard member on the inside of her thigh. She closes her eyes and places her hands on Elijah's back as he kisses and bites her neck gently, teasing her in all of the best ways. She feels Elijah's tounge dart out and circle a small spot at the bottom of her neck and it drives her insane. She bites her lip again and squeezes his back as he repeats this action, realising just how much she likes it.

Hayley feels her body reacting to Elijah's tounge work and she doesn't want to wait any longer, she is ready for him now. She moves her hands down his back, scratching lightly until she gets to his waist. She pulls his waist closer to hers, making his member come into contact with her core and she moans out loud. Elijah groans quietly and Hayley reaches in between them, taking hold of his hardness and rubbing herself on his tip to make herself even more aroused.

Unable to take anymore of this, Elijah grabs Hayley's hand and pins it above her head before he presses his lips to hers and pushes into her. She moans into his mouth and he groans as he pushes into her until he can go no further. He stops then, allowing her time to get use to the feeling of him being inside of her.

Slowly, Elijah pulls his lips from Hayley's and looks down at her. They make eye contact and she gives him a small smile, which he returns before he lowers his head to the space in between her shoulder and neck and pulls half way out of her. She opens her mouth and closes her eyes as she feels Elijah push back into her slowly, she loves the feeling, it's like a pleasurable torture. He continues to slowly pull half way out before pushing back into her as he peppers her neck with kisses and when he feels like the time is right, he picks up the pace.

Elijah thrusts into her faster and Hayley digs her finger nails into his back. He takes that as a sign to carry on and he speeds up once again, making her moan into his ear. She bites her lip until the cut above it stings and then lets go and bites Elijah's shoulder instead. He groans as he feels a rush of arousal travel down his body and he quickly locks lips with Hayley, kissing her tenderly, but desperately. Hayley moves one hand to Elijah's cheek and holds his lips to hers as she deepens the kiss, pushing her tounge into his mouth to mingle with his.

Hayley moans loudly as she feels Elijah hit her magic spot. She wraps her legs around his waist to give him easier access and digs her fingers deep into his back when he hits the spot continuously, giving her an intense amount of pleasure. As he pulls out, she pushes herself back onto his shaft, desperate for her pleasure to continue and also desperate to reach her release. Elijah also feels a great amount of pleasure with every thrust she makes and he can feel himself coming closer and closer to his own release.

For the final time, Elijah starts to thrust into Hayley faster and she pulls her lips away from his and digs her fingers even deeper into his back as she moans with every thrust. Elijah tangles one hand in Hayley's hair and breathes heavily onto her neck as he thrusts into her, hard and fast. Hayley tenses around him and continues to do so, biting his shoulder harder as she feels herself getting closer and closer to her orgasm.

"Elijah" she moans quietly and that is all it takes to send Elijah over the edge.

Elijah groans and bites Hayley's neck harshly as he rides out his release, pouring himself into her without a second thought. He continues to thrust into her through his orgasm and not long after, Hayley also moans as she reaches her own climax. She lets her head fall back onto the pillows and lets out a deep breath as she looks up at Elijah, who is already looking down at her. Still inside of her, he tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and smiles at her.

"You're beautiful" he says, out of breath and Hayley laughs before pulling him into an embrace.

Hayley smiles and plants a small kiss on his neck as she rests her head on his muscular shoulder. She has just cheated on her husband. She has't just cheated, she has just had sex with her husband's brother... and she doesn't regret a thing.


	19. Chapter 19

Sunlight shines over New Orleans and through the window of Hayley's bedroom. She closes her eyes tighter as the rays of light touch her eyelids. She is about to turn over and hide her face from the light when she remembers she is not alone. His arm is draped around her waist and she bites her lip as she smiles. Considering she took one hell of a beating yesterday, Hayley is feeling very well. And that is all down to Elijah.

They had sex. It was wrong and they should have never done it, but they did, and they enjoyed it. Hayley could feel Elijah's hesitance to touch her at first because of what had happened that morning, but once he knew she was comfortable there had been no holding him back. The delicate, tender touches never stopped though. Not even for one second did he stop being the caring man he is and Hayley can't help but appreciate him even more for it.

Last night she felt lost and alone, and she needed to feel a connection to something... to someone. And Elijah, despite feeling like he should have pulled away before things went to far, helped her feel something. He gave her what she wanted, even though it might not have been the best thing he could have done. Hayley is grateful for that.

Elijah's arm suddenly tightens around her and he moves from being lay on his stomach to being lay on his side, spooning Hayley's bare back. Hayley smiles to herself as she feels his face nestle into the back of her neck before he sighs deeply, letting his warm breath heat up her neck. It has been a long time since she has been held like this in such a passionate way and she intends to make the absolute most of it.

Hayley pulls Elijah's arm tighter around her and pushes her body against his, making sure there isn't one part of them that isn't touching, including their legs which are tangled together. Elijah smiles when he feels her move closer to him and he plants a chaste kiss at the bottom of her neck before nuzzling his face against her neck again. The smell of her coconut shampoo filling his nostrils and making him want to push his face even further into her.

None of them want to move and none of them have the intention to. They are comfy and content lay here together, with nothing to worry about for the next few days apart from a possible killer migraine for Hayley. For the first time in a long time, Hayley feels free and she wants to continue to feel like this. If that means leaving Klaus, she is willing to do it. She has reached breaking point now and she is ready to leave him if he cannot go back to being the man she married. True be told, she is considering leaving him anyway after last night with Elijah.

"We need to talk" Hayley says awkwardly.

Elijah stays silent for a few minutes. The last thing he wants to do is have the awkward morning after talk, but it has to be done; they need to know what exactly is going on between them and whether it is a long term thing. He really hopes it is. Even after everything his arrival has done to her, he hopes that he won't have to lose her.

"Not yet" he replies in his husky morning voice.

The sounds of his voice is a big turn on.

"Okay. Not yet" Hayley repeats and pulls his arm tighter around her again.

The stay in silence after that. None of them are entirely sure what to say next and none of them want to be the one to break the silence with pathetic small talk. Hayley knows she has to tell Elijah all of the facts about yesterday, but it isn't something she wants to talk about ever again. She hopes he won't hate her for refusing to make a false promise to Klaus. She knows promises don't mean a lot to many people anymore and the words 'I promise' are easily thrown around by people everywhere, everyday. But Hayley takes those words very seriously.

A promise is unbreakable.

Elijah on the other hand, is trying to come to terms with how having sex with a girl who he found lying in a pool of her own blood fits in with his honourable status. But it doesn't. Nothing about last night was honourable and he honestly can not believe his own actions. He did not expect things to escalate as fast as they did and despite knowing it was wrong and possibly even indecent of him, he can't say he isn't glad it happened.

He was gentle with her, he was careful not to harm her, or be too rough and he didn't do anything he thought she might be uncomfortable with. He did his best to comfort her, just like he did last time, except this time she wanted more than a hug and a warm body to cuddle up to during the cold of the night.

Hayley suddenly pushes her naked backside against him and he instantly feels himself waking up. He opens his eyes and blinks a few times to get his eyes use to the light before he leans on his elbow and moves Hayley's hair from her neck. He then lowers his mouth to her neck and gently kisses up to her ear.

"I need a shower" he whispers in her ear, sending a shiver down her spin.

Hayley bites her lip and smirks as she turns on her back so that Elijah is hovering over her slightly. She brings her hand up to his chest and strokes the small hair growing there as she stares into his beautiful brown eyes. He smiles down at her before lowering his face closer to hers.

"And I think you should join me" he says, referring to the shower.

Hayley chuckles and bites her lip. She then plants a quick kiss on his lips before jumping up, ignoring her nakedness, and walking to the en-suite bathroom, swinging her hips a little extra to give Elijah a bit of a show. He smirks as he watches her walk away; he likes what he sees. He then quickly jumps up out of the bed and also walks into the en-suite bathroom to see Hayley already stood in the shower, leaning against the shower wall.

Slowly, he also steps into the shower cubical and shuts the sliding door behind him. There is barely any room for them to move, but Hayley likes it. She likes being this close to him. She likes it even more when he closes the gap between their bodies, pressing himself against her and leans down to join their lips. However, right before his lips can touch hers, she turns the tap on and he jumps back in shock as the cold water hits them.

Hayley laughs out loud and Elijah wipes the water from his eyes before he looks at her and smiles. Her laughter is quickly becoming one of his favourite sounds and to hear it first thing in the morning is definitely going to set him off for a good day. As her laughter dies down he moves closer to her again and this time succeeds in kissing her.

Slowly, Elijah wraps his arms around Hayley's waist as he kisses her passionately. Hayley wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him back, surprised at her own amount of energy this early in the morning. She has never been a morning person before. She pushes her groin against him purposely to tease him and waits patiently for his body to react to hers. However, just as she begins to feel his hardness push into her thigh, Elijah pulls away from her.

Hayley frowns gently at him, waiting for an explanation. He looks right back at her, stoic and not giving anything away.

"You okay?" Hayley asks.

Elijah nods twice.

"Why did you stop?" Hayley asks, feeling a bit awkward.

Elijah sighs and looks down at the floor for a few seconds before he looks back up at her and answers.

"Last night shouldn't of happened," Hayley's heart sinks and she is about to scream at him and leave, but he continues to speak. "I loved every second of it, but after the way I found you, I should have never took advantage of you like that... and I don't want to take advantage of you again."

"You didn't take advantage of me, Elijah. Believe me, I wanted it just as much as you did" Hayley tries to convince him, but he shakes his head and looks away from her.

Hayley sighs and uses her hand to force him to look at her again.

"I promise you, Elijah, I wanted last night to happen. I wanted it more than anything" she says and Elijah seems shocked.

He was not expecting such a confession from Hayley, but he is more than happy to know he didn't force her into anything she didn't want to do. It also makes him feel a lot more confident about the next actions he is planning to make.

Quickly before she can say anything else, Elijah pulls Hayley's face to his and kisses her strongly. He doesn't hesitate to carefully push her back against the shower wall either as he deepens their kiss, allowing his tounge to travel into her mouth. Her tounge tangles with his and he sighs into her mouth, loving the taste of her.

Hayley puts her hands on Elijah's chest and scratches gently, leaving faint red marks down his body as one hand travels down to his groin. Her hand wraps around his almost full hard member and he hisses into her mouth. Hayley smirks and starts to rub her hand up and down his shaft whilst she gives him a little push, forcing him to back up to the other shower wall. She presses her other hand against his chest, right above his heart and feels happy when she feels it pounding against her hand.

Hayley holds Elijah in place with her hand and pulls her lips away from his only to move them to his neck and start to kiss down his neck to his chest. She kisses slowly over both sides of his chest before lowering to his stomach and planting kisses all around there too. She stops when she sees the scar she saw not too long ago in Elijah's room when he had nothing but a towel covering him. It is a slim but long scar, just above his hip on his lower torso, unnoticeable from far away. It looks as though he might have been stabbed and she immediately wants to ask him about it, but she has other things to be doing. She makes sure to give the scar extra attention and extra kisses before moving lower.

As she drops to her knees, Elijah quickly pulls her back up to her feet and pins her back against the other wall. He begins to kiss down her neck as he grabs both of her wrists and pins them above her head. Hayley closes her eyes and moans, lifting herself slightly and moving her groin forwards so she can grind herself on his hardness. When he realises what she is doing, he moves closer to her to make it easier for her while he continues to kiss, lick and bite up and down her neck.

Hayley continues to grind herself along his shaft and bites down on her lip as she does. Elijah suddenly thrusts at the same time that she grinds and she lets out a loud moan as she throws her head back against the shower wall. Elijah takes that as a good sign and slides his hands down Hayley's body to the underneath of her thighs before he lifts her. She responds instantly by wrapping her legs around his waist and wrapping her hands around his neck. She pulls his lips back to hers in a kiss lead by pure lust as she lowers herself on him, ready for him to enter her.

Elijah moans into her mouth as he feels her entrance on his tip. He holds her against the wall and wraps one arm around her lower back while his other hand tangles in her damp hair before he thrusts into her. They both break the kiss and groan as Elijah goes as deep as he can into her before he pulls halfway back and and then continue to push back in again. Hayley can already feel him hitting the perfect spot and she knows that if he keeps this up, it won't take long for her to orgasm.

Elijah reconnects their lips and Hayley instantly moans into his mouth. He starts to thrust at a quick pace almost straight away, now that he knows that she wants it, he doesn't find it a problem giving it to her. Just the same as last night, he pulls almost all of the way out of her and then pushes back in as far as he can go. And also just the same as last night, Hayley loves it. She moans with almost every thrust.

Hayley tightens her walls around him and he moans into her mouth as he quickens the pace. She pulls away from the kiss and throws her head back against the shower wall in pleasure, the impact hurts her head slightly but she ignores the pain. Elijah moves his lips down and bites her collar gently as he continues to thrust in and out of her, picking up the pace a bit more with every thrust. Hayley also begins to grind down onto him every time he pulls out, pushing both of them even closer to their climax's.

Feeling a throbbing sensation down below, Elijah knows he is close and pushes even deeper into her. Hayley lets out a loud moan and digs her fingernails into Elijah's shoulders. She tenses around him as he goes in and out of her and she feels herself seconds away from her own release, but something is missing. Elijah pushes one more time and groans into her ear as he reaches his climax. He continues to thrust into her as he empties himself and as she feels his seed in her, she also finds her release.

Hayley moans and throws herself forwards, wrapping her arms tightly around Elijah and holding onto him. She clings onto him, her hands running up and down his back as she pants. As her hands wonder down to the middle of his back she feels scars. She can feel the fresh marks which she made last night, but she can also feel deep, tough scars. Maybe he got this from Klaus when they use to fight over Katherine. Or maybe it is from his father, Klaus did mention him being very abusive.

Suddenly considering that Elijah might not like her doing this, she moves her hands back up to his shoulders and sighs. Elijah kisses her neck again before he turns the shower tap off.

"I think we're clean enough for now" he says into her ear and she chuckles.

She slips down his body and stands on her own two feet again, a bit wobbly from her orgasm. She strokes his chest and kisses his cheek before hoping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself. Elijah runs his hand through his hair, pushing it back out of his face before also taking a towel from the bathroom shelf and wrapping it around his waist.

Hayley grabs her toothbrush from it's holder and puts some toothpaste on it before turning the tap on and running it under the cold water. Elijah leans against the door frame and watches Hayley for a few seconds. When she realises he is watching her, she turns and watches him too while brushing her teeth.

"You wanted to talk?" Elijah asks, smirking at her as she spits the toothpaste into the sink.

"Yeah" Hayley says and continues to brush her teeth for a minute. "About Klaus."

The last thing Elijah wanted to hear today was his brother's name, but they had to have this talk eventually.

"The whole situation yesterday was my fault. After you left, I started pushing him and shouting at him and he got annoyed and tried to make me promise there was nothing going on between us. I don't make promises I can't keep... so I didn't promise anything and he lashed out at me. I shouldn't of challenged him."

Elijah shakes his head and steps closer to Hayley.

"No. None of this is your fault. Victims usually blame themselves for their abusers crimes, but it is never there fault. It is not your fault, Hayley" Elijah says, softly.

Hayley puts her toothbrush back in it's holder and looks down at the floor. She has been blaming herself for Klaus' wrongs a lot more than usual lately and she doesn't know where it has come from. Then again, she never use to be physically scared of him either, now things have changed.

Elijah pulls her to him and holds her against his chest. Hayley wraps her arms around him and rests her head against his chest, listening to his beating heart. His heart beat calms her down. Elijah kisses her forehead and then runs his hand up and down the part of her back which isn't covered by the towel as he tries to comfort her. She closes her eyes and squeezes him.

"We had best make these next two days good ones" Elijah says, referring to Klaus returning in two days.

Hayley wants to cry at just the thought of her husband returning.

"Every day with you is a good day" Hayley says before she even realises what she has said.

Elijah smiles and kisses her forehead again. They suddenly hear the front door bang shut and Jack barking. Hayley looks up at Elijah and he frowns down at her; both wondering who it could be. They both make their way out of Hayley's room and down the corridor, Elijah walking a little bit behind Hayley.

They walk into the living room to see Rebekah bent over stroking Jack. She looks up and frowns at them both. Their appearance tells Rebekah everything she needs to know. She will definitely have to quiz them both on this, but she isn't here for that right now. She needs to tell Hayley about everything that happened with Marcel. But first things first, Rebekah walks over to Hayley, arms open and pulls her in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come back, me and Marcel had this massive argument and I found out he has got a lot of snakes in his closet, and I was going to call, but I thought you might be resting and I didn't want to disturb you-" Hayley cuts her off quickly.

"I'm okay now, I'm feeling a lot better. Apart from the headache that keeps coming and going, I'm fine. But thanks for worrying, Bekah."

Rebekah pulls away and smiles at Hayley before she pulls her in for another hug. She looks over Hayley's shoulder and makes eye contact with Elijah. She gives him a glare and he raises an eyebrow at her before Rebekah bats her hand at him, signalling for him to leave. He does as he is told and retreats to his room. As he turns and leaves, Rebekah lets go of Hayley, but keeps an arm around her waist as she guides her to start walking to her bedroom.

"So, what's this with Marcel?" Hayley asks as they walk down the corridor, Jack following.

"Well, Klaus said he is a cheat in one of our arguments and I didn't believe him because he is a lying bastard... but when I asked Marcel about it he started shouting and getting defensive. And finally after four and a half hours of screaming at each other, I got the names of the strippers he's being paying for what he calls 'backstage lap dances'" Rebekah tells her.

"And you're not heartbroken?" Hayley asks as they walk into her room.

"Not anymore, no. I've already been through the crying and whaling stage. I'm now at the hate stage" Rebekah says and Hayley pulls a sad face.

"Aww come here" she says and pulls Rebekah in for the third hug of the day.

She knows Rebekah is heartbroken really, she is just really good at hiding her emotions. A bit like all of the other Mikaelsons.

When the hug is over, Hayley moves to her drawers and pulls out her underwear before also grabbing some fresh clothes from the wardrobe and then going into the en-suite bathroom to change. While she is in there, Rebekah sits on the unmade bed which has a tie lay on it. She picks up the tie and shakes her head before putting it back down. She should have seen this coming, the attraction has been there since day one.

"What happened last night, Hayley?" Rebekah calls through the door.

There is no reply for a few seconds.

"Nothing. I just had a shower and Elijah stayed in here like he did last time" she says, referring to last time Klaus hit her.

Rebekah rolls her eyes at Hayley's pathetic lie and there is a gentle knock at the door. Seconds after the knock, Elijah pokes his head around the door, now fully dressed in one of his usual suits.

"Could you tell Hayley I have gone looking at hotels?" Elijah asks and Rebekah grabs the tie and throws it at him.

"Tell your lover girl yourself" she says and Elijah goes to reply, but she cuts him off. "You don't have to look for hotels, Elijah, you will always have a place to stay at mine... whether Marcel likes it or not, the wanker."

Elijah smiles at Rebekah.

"Thank you, sister" he says and she rolls her eyes.

"yeah, yeah, I'm amazing I know. Now, get out of here, I need to have a girly chat with little miss greedy" she says and Elijah frowns at her.

"Little miss greedy?" He asks.

"Yes, little miss greedy wants two men instead of one" Rebekah says and Elijah smirks.

He shakes his head, but continues to smile as he picks his tie up from the floor and leaves. Rebekah smiles to herself; sometimes she really does find herself amusing.

Hayley comes out of the bathroom in her classic black jeans with a black long-sleeved top. Rebekah smiles at her sister-in-law and stands up from the bed. Hayley can already feel the questions coming and she isn't prepared to answer any of them.

"So, which brother is better in bed?" Rebekah asks and they both start laughing, no matter how hard they try not to.


	20. Chapter 20

Jack trots into the kitchen and curls up next to his food bowl. He looks up at the island where Hayley is sat watching Rebekah make them both a cup of coffee. Hayley has been trying to avoid all questions that have anything to do with Elijah since the second her sister-in-law walked through the door. So far, she has done well, but Rebekah has never been one to give up on getting what she wants out of someone. Even if the information she wants is very personal.

Hayley looks down at Jack and yawns. He lifts his head from the floor and copies her, whining as he opens his mouth wide to let out a yawn of his own.

"I'm not surprised you're tired" Rebekah comments and places a cup of coffee in front of Hayley. "If my brother is anything like me, he probably had you up all night."

Hayley laughs, wincing slightly when the cut on her lip stings and shakes her head, refusing to reply to that.

Rebekah notices that Hayley has ignored her again and she smirks to herself as she walks around the island to sit next to Hayley. She isn't stupid, she knows exactly what happened last night. She also knows that this is her only way to get details of the events because Elijah is not one to kiss and tell. So, she continues to press Hayley for information.

"You can tell me what happened, you know? I'm not going to tell anyone" Rebekah says, desperate for the insight of last night.

"There's nothing to tell" Hayley says and takes a sip from her cup.

"That's not what Elijah said" Rebekah says and smirks into her cup as Hayley shoots her a questioning look.

"What did he say exactly?" Hayley asks, cautiously.

Rebekah's smirk grows, she knows she has Hayley where she wants her.

"Well... he told me enough to know you are definitely not as innocent as you say you are" Rebekah says, slyly and Hayley frowns.

She isn't sure what to say to the blonde, but she knows that it is pointless lying to her. She also knows Elijah won't have told his sister what happened, but Hayley kind of wants to tell Rebekah even though she shouldn't. These are the kind of things she really does need to talk to someone about. Especially when last night could lead to her getting a divorce.

Hayley sighs and takes a large sip of her drink.

"Okay... so, when Klaus kicked Elijah out, I started shouting at him and I pushed him into the wall, and he snapped" Hayley pauses as the terrible flashbacks invade her mind. Rebekah sees her friends internal struggle and takes her hand in hers for comfort, giving her a small smile when their eyes meet.

The second Rebekah saw Hayley this morning, she knew what had happened. Not only because Elijah had text her, but also because the evidence is clear on Hayley's face. She looks bruised and battered, but yet she fights on. Rebekah has always considered herself strong for getting through her own beatings as a child, but for Hayley to survive beatings as a child off her father and now off her husband, she is truly an amazing and inspirational person to Rebekah.

Hayley continues, "Elijah came back and found me. He helped clean my wounds and he bandaged me up. He was there for me when I felt so alone and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to feel alone..."

"So, you shagged him?" Rebekah asks rather insensitively.

Hayley is quite shocked by the question, but it brings a smile to her face. She looks down and Rebekah smirks whilst squeezing her friend's hand.

"I'll take that as a yes" she says and Hayley blushes slightly.

Rebekah wants to tell Hayley that it was wrong to cheat on her husband, but she doesn't feel like it would be right to do so. Not after everything Klaus has put her through over the past couple of months. In fact, Rebekah would do the exact same if Marcel ever raised a hand to her, or spoke to her the way Klaus speaks to Hayley during arguments. She should of done the same considering what Marcel has already done to her.

"Have you spoke to my horrible brother since?" Rebekah asks and Hayley shakes her head.

"We never talk while he's away. He likes to think of it as a break from me I imagine" she says.

"The only one who needs a break is you, sweetheart" Rebekah tells Hayley and she smiles at the blonde.

Rebekah knows she should not ask, but she cannot help herself. A part of her just has to know.

"So, what will you do now? You can't be married to one brother and be shagging the other forever."

Hayley seems taken back by the question. She shouldn't really because she has been weighing up her options a lot recently, bu she can't seem to come to a decision. She wants to say that she will easily leave Klaus for Elijah and they will live happily ever after, but she no longer believes in happy endings. And no matter how happy Elijah makes her, no matter how many happy endings he promises her, she knows Klaus will never let them be happy.

There is a big difference between divorcing Klaus, and divorcing Klaus and being with happy Elijah.

"I don't know, Rebekah" Hayley finally replies. "I can't forgive Klaus, that is the only thing I know for certain."

"And what of Elijah?" Rebekah asks before taking a sip from her coffee cup.

Hayley sighs and looks down into her cup, avoiding Rebekah's gaze.

"I care about him a lot... one day I might even love him. But I don't think Klaus would ever let us be together. At every turn, he would be there ready to put a wedge between us."

Tears come to Hayley's eyes and she quickly blinks them away before looking at Rebekah. She gives her sister-in-law a quick, fake smile and then looks away again. She knows Rebekah will ready right through her, but it is worth a shot at convincing her she is okay. And just like she predicted, Rebekah does read right through her. Rebekah sighs sadly and puts her cup down.

"Come here you" she says as she opens her arms to hug Hayley.

Hayley lets Rebekah hug her as she fights off every tear that threatens to fall. Half way through their hug, Jack jumps up from the floor and comes to stand in between their stools, looking up to check on his owner. He would never go to check on Klaus like this; he has seen too much and he knows where his loyalties lie.

Rebekah lets go of Hayley and Hayley reaches down and strokes the top of Jack's head. Jack instantly closes his eyes and makes a small whining sound. Hayley smiles down at him and Rebekah picks her almost empty cup back up as she watches the scene before her. She loves the bond Hayley and Jack share.

"If you leave my brother for my other brother, then you have to keep him. I don't give two shits what Niklaus says, Jack has made it very obvious who he loves more" she says and Hayley smiles.

"Even if we ended on good terms, I would never leave him with Klaus. I know at first I didn't want him, but now I honestly don't know what I would do without him" Hayley admits and Jack licks her hand before walking back to his spot on the floor next to his food bowl.

"You're lucky you got such a good one. That boy, Oliver, who lives next to me and Marcel, his husky is terrible. It's a beautiful dog, but I would never mind it for him if he asked" Rebekah tells Hayley and Hayley smiles. She is quite happy to listen to Rebekah talk about the boy she has never met and has only ever heard bad things about rather than discuss her own issues.

Upon hearing Marcel's name, Hayley decides to ask about him. She hates asking about Marcel because quite frankly all him and Rebekah do is argue, but she has to ask. Especially after what Rebekah said about him having it off with strippers behind her back.

"How are you and Marcel by the way? Last time I heard his name come out of your mouth, things weren't looking too good."

Rebekah finishes off the last of her coffee before standing up and walking to the sink with her cup. She rinses the cup out and then places it in the sink before turning back to face Hayley. She seems to stop and think about what she is going to say. Marcel has always been a touchy subject, even when they are on good terms.

"I feel weak for doing so, but I decided to give him a second chance" she says and Hayley nods her head. "I despise him for cheating on me, but I do love him even after what he has done. And it could have been worse, he could of had sex with them."

Hayley frowns.

"I thought he did have sex with the strippers?" She asks and Rebekah shakes her head.

Hayley frowns again.

"Well, what did he do then?" She asks stupidly and Rebekah makes a gesture with her tounge and her hand.

Hayley laughs in shock.

"Okay, I get it."

Rebekah rolls her eyes at Hayley and walks back to her seat.

Hayley isn't surprised by Marcel's cheating. She has always told Klaus she has Marcel pinned down as a player. She made a point of showing Klaus what Marcel was like when she found him chatting up two young girls at last years Christmas party. She always hoped she would be wrong for Rebekah's benefit, but now at least the truth is out and Rebekah knows what kind of man she is engaged to.

The worst thing is that no matter how much Hayley wants to call Marcel disgusting for what he has done to Rebekah, she can't. Because she has done the exact same thing to Klaus. Yes, their relationship was broken long ago and is no longer really worth saving, but she still did wrong. Cheating is something she has always frowned upon and now that she has done it and does not feel guilty for it, she feels like she no longer has a right to comment on cheating.

"What's happening with the baby making then? Is it being put on hold?" Hayley asks after ripping herself away from her thoughts.

"God no! One of the best elements of our relationship is the make up sex. And boy did he make up for it" Rebekah says with a wink and Hayley laughs, ignoring the pain in her lip as she does.

Rebekah moves forwards so she is leaning on the island with folded arms.

"But seriously, I don't know what is happening with us anymore. He tells me it was a mistake and he loves me more than ever, but he still plans on going out with some of his friends again this weekend... the same friends which he goes to those strip clubs with" Rebekah explains.

"You should follow him there and see what happens. There's no harm in sitting in there and having a drink, but if he goes into the back then you know he hasn't changed one bit" Hayley says and takes a sip of her semi-warm coffee.

"That isn't a bad idea. If I don't come round at weekend, you know what I'm doing" Rebekah says and Hayley smiles. "But honestly, I don't think now would be a good time for us to bring a child into the world. Not while we are so distant from one another."

Hayley nods understandably. That is one of the reasons she hasn't been trying for a baby with Klaus. She came off the pill awhile ago thinking it would be a good time for them, but the second she brought the conversation up, Klaus flipped. She didn't even bother going back on the pill after that because after that row, the sex stopped. Klaus was scared to touch her in case she was just having sex with him to get pregnant. He even went to the extreme lengths of buying condoms.

Klaus buying condoms opened the door for him to cheat on her as well and back then she was still in love with him. So, she poked holes into every single condom in the box and then put them all back neatly. They then went on to use two of those condoms a few months later. However, luckily Hayley did not get pregnant.

"Should we do something else besides gossip today then?" Rebekah asks, dragging Hayley away from her thoughts.

"Well, Jack needs a walk" Hayley says and Jack's head flies up.

Rebekah smiles at the dog and then at Hayley.

"The park it is then" Rebekah says and goes to get Jack's lead.

As she walks away, Hayley's phone vibrates. She pulls it to her from the other side of the island and sees a message from Elijah sent just now. She opens the message and it reads:

 _Dinner tonight? xx_

Hayley smiles at her phone. She has tasted the food that Elijah has to offer her and it is definitely something she cannot say no to. She checks that Rebekah isn't stood anywhere near her before she replies. Her reply says:

 _I wouldn't miss it for the world xx_


	21. Chapter 21

Hayley smiles and pulls Elijah closer as she wakes up. She slowly opens one eye and allows herself to look at his flawless face for a little too long before looking down in between them, where his arm rests around her waist. Another smile comes to her face at how naked they are and how content and happy she feels despite having an almost completely smashed up face. Waking up like this, feeling like this, being with Elijah like this, it is all definitely something she could get use to.

She has been trying really hard not to think about today, but still she can't stop her mind from drifting to it. Today, Klaus comes home. No doubt he will be drunk and angry, and no doubt that he will take it all out on her. Another negative subject of today, Elijah is leaving and she probably won't see him again until Klaus goes on a night out, or leaves town for work again.

Hayley sighs and moves her hand from Elijah's hip, to his chest right over his heart. She knows that this affair can't last forever, but it is all she wants. But she also knows that she cannot put up with Klaus for much longer, not with how unpredictable he has become. Their relationship is unstable and she does not want it anymore.

Elijah opens his eyes and Hayley immediately pushes all negative thoughts to the back of her head. She smiles at him and moves her face closer to his as he pulls her body tightly up against his. Elijah also smiles and kisses Hayley's nose before pulling her head to his chest and holding her against him gently. Hayley smiles and wraps her arms around his naked waist.

"I could stay here all day" Elijah says, his voice just above a whisper.

"Me too" Hayley smiles into his muscular chest.

Elijah has never been one to stay in bed all day, but he would happily stay in bed all day, everyday if Hayley was with him. He would love to nothing but stay in bed with her all day today, but he cannot; none of them know when Klaus will be home. It is one thing with him knowing Hayley has been unfaithful, but being caught at it is a complete other level. A level Hayley has no interest in exploring.

She moves her head from Elijah's chest and looks up at him, meeting his gaze. She gives him a small smile before she moves in closer and presses her lips to Elijah's. Elijah kisses her back, putting one hand on the back of her head to pull her even closer.

"Should we go and get some breakfast?" Elijah asks, pulling away from the kiss. "I know the perfect place."

Hayley looks down at the bed sheet and smiles, biting her bottom lip.

"I'll get ready now then" she says before putting her hand on Elijah's cheek and pulling him into a deep kiss.

When she pulls away, she smiles at what she sees. Elijah, speechless with his mouth still slightly open and his eyes still closed. She bites her lip and strokes his cheek before getting up from her bed. She walks over to her drawer and pulls out a clean bra and a clean pair of knickers before pulling them on and turning around to see Elijah sat up watching her.

She winks at him before going into the en-suite bathroom and she hears him chuckle as she turns the tap on to brush her teeth. She watches Elijah enter the bathroom through the mirror and wrap his arms around her as she runs the brush over her teeth, back and forth. He rests his chin on her shoulder and kisses the side of her neck before going back into her room, picking up his clothes and leaving to get ready himself.

Hayley smiles to herself as she spits out a mouthful of toothpaste. From the stories, Elijah is nothing but good, but in Hayley's story, he is good with a hell of a lot of bad.

She finishes cleaning her teeth and goes to her wardrobe to get her outfit for the day. She pulls on a royal blue blouse and her usual tight, black jeans, this pair have rips in, showing her knees. She then pulls out a pair of black Converse and shoves them on her feet quickly before spraying her perfume on her neck and clothes.

Just as she puts her perfume down, Elijah walks in wearing black jeans and a black Calvin Klein polo shirt, top button opened and a small grey 'CK' symbol on the left side of the shirt. Hayley bites her lip and her heart misses at least 100 beats as she very obviously looks Elijah up and down numerous times. She thought there was nothing as sexy as Elijah in a suit, but now she isn't too sure anymore.

"Ready?" He asks, casually and Hayley nods.

Hayley walks over to Elijah, taking his hand as she reaches him and they then walk through the apartment together. Jack sits up on the couch when he sees them enter the living room, but quickly lies back down when he realises he isn't going out yet. Hayley blows him a kiss goodbye and shuts the door behind herself and Elijah, as he presses the button for the elevator.

It arrives quicker than usual and they climb aboard before clicking for the ground floor.

"Where are we going then?" Hayley asks and Elijah slowly wraps an arm around her waist.

"You'll have to wait and see" he says, watching the elevator numbers descend.

"Or, you could tell me" Hayley tries, knowing she won't get anything out of him, but still never being one to give up.

Elijah smiles as Hayley tilts her head back onto his shoulder and smiles up at him, expecting an answer. Elijah kisses her cheek and looks back up at the elevator numbers.

"Like I said, you'll have to wait and see" he says and Hayley smiles to herself.

The elevator reaches the ground floor and they step out, Elijah's arm still wrapped nicely around Hayley's waist. They leave the apartment building and walk to Elijah's Jaguar XF. He then detaches himself from Hayley to open the door for her, waiting for her to be sat in the passenger seat before he shuts the door and goes around to the other side.

Once in the car, they both buckle themselves in and Elijah starts the car. He places his phone into the cup holder in the middle of their seats and then pulls out into the main road. He drives for about 20 minutes before he pulls into the car park of a small, homely looking restaurant.

"I've never been here before" Hayley comments as she takes her seat belt off and opens her door before stepping out.

Elijah unbuckles his belt and then opens his door, stepping out of the car before he says, "neither have I. Rebekah mentioned it over the phone a few nights ago and I promised her I would try it, so, I thought who better to try it with than you."

Hayley smirks as she shuts the car door and starts to walk to the front of the car, waiting for Elijah there. He also shuts his car door and locks the car before pocketing his keys and holding his hand out to her as he meets her in front of the car. She instantly puts her hand in his and they walk to the entrance of the restaurant as if they were just another ordinary couple.

Elijah opens the door and holds it for Hayley before letting it go and leading her to a table. He picks a table in a corner, next to a window that is overlooking a small pond and a nearby park. At the pond, there are two men fishing and on the park are four kids running around and taking it in turns to tackle the monkey bars, as well as two mothers watching closely over their children whilst talking and laughing about something.

Hayley sits opposite Elijah and smiles at him when they make eye contact. He smiles back and then takes the menus out of the holders before pushing one across the table to Hayley, and keeping one for himself.

"What are you having?" Hayley asks as she starts to read the breakfast menu.

Elijah does not answer at first and instead takes another look at the list. He then puts the menu down on the table and places his hands on the table.

"I am having a stack of pancakes, with two slices of bacon." Elijah tells her before asking, "what are you having?"

Hayley puts her menu back in the holder.

"I would like two poached eggs, two pieces of bacon and a bagel please" she answers and Elijah nods.

He is about to stand up and go to order when a man dressed in uniform runs over. He pushes the hair back out of his face and pulls out a small pad and a pencil from his pocket.

"Good morning, could I get you anything?" The young man asks and Elijah sits up slightly.

"Could I please have a stack of pancakes with two slices of bacon... and then a bagel with two poached eggs and two more slices of bacon" Elijah says and the man quickly writes it all down on his pad.

He checks he has wrote everything and then nods to himself before looking back up at Elijah.

"Any drinks?"

Elijah looks at Hayley and she also sits up.

"A diet coke please" she says and then stares out of the window.

The man writes down what she has said and then looks to Elijah again.

"I will have a cappuccino please, thank you" Elijah tells the man, who quickly scribbles it down and then speed walks away from their table and towards the kitchen.

Hayley sighs as she looks out of the window at how peaceful this small part of the town is at this time in the morning. Usually New Orleans is completely packed out by half nine in the morning, no matter what day it is. Elijah reaches over the table and strokes her cheek, causing her to jump slightly and look back at him.

He smiles at her and she can't stop herself from smiling back. She takes his hand in one of hers and holds it over the table.

"So, Rebekah says you're moving in with her" Hayley says to start up conversation.

Elijah nods.

"Hopefully, it will just be a temporary arrangement until I get a place of my own" he says and Hayley frowns at him, tilting her head.

"I thought this was only a short trip for you?" Hayley asks, hoping that he has changed his mind.

"It was... but I found something worth staying for" he replies, looking at Hayley as if she is the most precious gem in the world.

And Hayley can't help but smile and blush.

"And surprisingly, there is even the perfect place to rent out to set up an office for my work here" he adds.

"Exactly how many different offices do you have for your therapist business thing?" She asks, knowing that it must be a lot judging off the fancy, expensive clothes he always wears.

"I have an office in New York, two in Florida, one in South Carolina and my original office, which is in Atlanta, Georgia" Elijah tells her and she opens her eyes wide in shock.

"Wow... you must be like mega rich then" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles, looking down at his hands.

"I wouldn't say rich, but I am never short of money. I do a lot of donation work whenever I have the time" he says.

"Which charities do you give to?" Hayley asks and leans on the table with her elbows.

"I donate to RAINN, the Cancer Society and Make A Wish" he says and she smiles.

"You're just an overall perfect guy aren't you" Hayley says and Elijah smirks.

He copies her by also leaning on the table with his elbows.

"I would have to disagree I'm afraid" he says and Hayley bites her lip.

"Modest too, now that's just sexy" she says and Elijah laughs out loud before sitting back in his seat.

Hayley smiles, pleased that she made him laugh and also sits back as she sees the young man coming over with their drinks. He quickly places the diet coke in front of Hayley and the cappuccino in front of Elijah before going back to collect their plates. He then returns to their table again.

"Pancakes with bacon" he says and places the plate in front of Elijah. "Eggs, bacon and a bagel" he says and places the other plate in front of Hayley.

"Thank you" Elijah says and the man nods to him before walking away.

Hayley takes a knife and fork from the pot on the table and cuts a corner of her bacon off before placing it in her mouth. The flavour that rushes into her mouth makes her want to close her eyes and throw her head back, but she remains in control of herself and reminds herself to save that kind of stuff for the bedroom.

Elijah also collects his knife and fork, cuts off some of his bacon and puts it in his mouth. He chews it a number of times before nodding and using his knife to cut off another piece, this time gathering a slice of one of his pancakes with it too and placing them in his mouth.

"Very good" Elijah comments and Hayley hums in agreement.

Hayley waits until they are half way through their food before she starts another conversation.

"How do you feel about living with Rebekah?" She asks and Elijah pauses.

He looks up at her, seemingly confused.

"Is it what you want? No one really asked how you felt after everything that happened the other day, so, I thought I would" she adds.

Elijah stays silent for a minute, thinking about his response.

"Well, it isn't what I want, but I don't have much choice. Besides, if I was to stay at your apartment, we would forever be tiptoeing around Niklaus and stealing kisses. We would of been caught eventually no matter what" Elijah says and Hayley nods.

"You promised you would help him though... Klaus I mean" Hayley says. Then adding, "I know he's been a real shit recently, but I still don't want him to fall down the same path that so many other alcoholics do."

Elijah smiles at how much of a kindhearted person she is.

"Yes, I promised and I intend to keep that promise. I'm just letting the air settle. Once he has had some time, I will try to speak to him. I doubt he will listen, but a promise is a promise."

Hayley nods her head and they continue to eat.

"I'm not looking forward to constantly listening to Rebekah and Marcel arguing" Elijah says before putting a slice of his pancake into his mouth.

Hayley nods her head in agreement.

"You're gonna be hearing a lot of that with what they're going through at the minute" she says.

"I always knew he wasn't good for her, but she never listened" Elijah says and shakes his head as he cuts into his last pancake.

"I've caught him flirting with girls before and I never really trusted him, but I don't wanna upset Rebekah" Hayley says before placing the last bit of egg into her mouth.

Elijah takes a sip of his drink and twirls his fork in his hand.

"He knows right from wrong, he just chooses to do wrong sometimes" Elijah says and then takes another sip of his drink.

Hayley chuckles and Elijah gives her a questioning look.

"He's like Klaus then" Hayley says and Elijah smiles and nods.

"He is a lot more like my brother than he will ever admit."

Elijah finishes his pancake and looks out of the window. He could easily picture this being his life. Him and Hayley coming to small restaurants for breakfast, coming out on car rides and long strolls whenever they wanted. But life has never been that easy and it never will be. Especially not for a Mikaelson.

He takes another sip of his drink and lets the warmth of it attempt to warm up his forever cold, lonely heart. But nothing warms his heart up anymore like Hayley's touch does. And so he looks over to her as she takes her last bite and puts her cutlery down before he reaches over and captures her hand in his.

She sips her diet coke through a straw as she meets his loving gaze. She is ashamed at how quickly she has fallen for Elijah. She has gone from crushing out on him, to borderline falling in love with him in barely anytime at all. This is not how Hayley acts with boys, no, not at all. But Elijah isn't just any other boy.

Hayley bites her lip as she looks at Elijah, daring herself to say her next sentence because she knows that if she doesn't dare herself, she will never say it.

"I don't want to be with Klaus anymore."

Silence fills the space between them. Hayley worries that she has gone too far, but then Elijah's eyes soften and she knows she is just telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

"Our marriage is beyond repair and I am not going to be a victim again" she pauses. "I'm going to the divorce lawyers when he's home so we can sort it out quick and easy. I don't want him anymore."

She finishes there despite wanting to also say 'I want you.'

Elijah nods slowly, unsure of what to say. He is extremely happy that she is leaving Klaus, but he feels wrong telling her that. He is in the wrong as well as Klaus is. But still, he can't seem to find himself felling bad for wanting Hayley.

"After what you have been through, I would say it is the right thing to do" Elijah says.

Hayley gives him a shy smile.

"He's going to hit me when I tell him I want a divorce" Hayley says, looking down at their joined hands.

Elijah shakes his head and squeezes her hand.

"No. You don't have to tell him anything. Let the lawyer send him the papers and you move out the second you get the chance" Elijah says, desperate to not see Hayley hurt again.

"Where would I go, Elijah?" Hayley asks, already knowing she has no where to go.

"I will book a hotel for us. I won't let him hurt you again, Hayley" Elijah says and Hayley stands up.

She walks around to his side of the table and slips in to sit next to him. He instantly wraps his arm around her shoulders and she lets her head fall to his shoulder. She feels safer than she has ever felt before in his arms. And not to mention he smells absolutely amazing.

Elijah kisses the top of her head and whispers, "penso che mi innamori di te."

Hayley looks up at him and nuzzles his chin with her nose.

"What does that mean?" She asks, referring to the Italian he just spoke.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself" Elijah says quietly.

Hayley smiles and closes her eyes as the morning sun light starts to shine in through the window onto where they are sat. She makes a mental note to google translate what Elijah said... if she can remember it.


	22. Chapter 22

Two days of avoiding Klaus has been a lot more easier than Hayley would of thought. It has mostly been this easy because Klaus has also been making a considerable effort to avoid her as well. Since he came home they have only seen each other once and have not had to speak to each other yet, which to Hayley is brilliant.

He walked through the door back from his business trip two nights ago at half nine. He was not sober, but he didn't look drunk. He dropped his bag, kicked his shoes off and stopped to look at Hayley, who was curled up on the couch with Jack watching Game Of Thrones. She looked up at him, reluctantly taking her eyes off the beauty on her screen that was Jon Snow and made eye contact with her husband. The second they made eye contact, he was gone. He picked up his bag and walked towards their room.

Since then, Klaus has been up extra earlier to avoid Hayley and coming home extra late and sitting in the study until he can face her and run past her to bed. Hayley has also been doing whatever she can to avoid Klaus, that includes sleeping on the couch, going on long runs, hiding away in the box room and looking at old pictures she has already seen a thousand times.

And now, finally after a brilliant two days of peace, she runs into him.

Hayley walks into the living room as she zips up her jacket and there he is sitting in his chair. She doesn't mean to, but she freezes and stares at him. He looks up at her and awkwardly stares back. Hayley begs for the floor to open up and swallow her, but when she looks down she sees no cracks threatening to take her. So, she is forced to look back up.

"I'm just going to Rebekah's" the first words she has said to him since his return.

Klaus just simply nods.

Hayley bites her lip and nods to herself before looking down and walking towards the door. That was possibly the most awkward encounter in her entire life and she cannot wait to be out of the door. But just as she reaches for the handle, Klaus speaks.

"Do you know where Elijah went?"

The question echos through the apartment and the amount of tension that it brings with it is very unnecessary. Hayley bites her lip and stares at the door as she tries her best to come up with the right answer. If she says yes, he will ask where and she won't be able to lie to him because she is a rubbish liar. If she says no then he will most likely know she is lying straight away and laugh in her face before accusing her of knowing exactly where and possibly smacking her.

She wants to walk away and pretend she didn't hear him, but it is too late now. She is obviously still here because she intends to reply to him. She is slightly annoyed because she knows he will be enjoying this so much. She sighs quietly, she has no choice but to answer...

"Some hotel I think" Hayley says and quickly leaves before Klaus can say another word.

She shuts the door and practically throws herself at the elevator, smashing her finger into the button multiple times. Finally the elevator arrives and she wastes no time in jumping on and smashing the ground floor button as well. She doesn't think she has ever been this desperate to escape anywhere in her life. Except maybe her father. But that is pretty much the same position as what she is in now but a different man with a harder smack.

The elevator doors open and she leaps off, walking as fast as she can out of the building. The long runs have been killing her legs, but she still forces herself to walk as fast as she can out of the building and down the street. She wishes she had of kept her car now instead of letting Klaus convince her that it was just a waste of money to have two cars. Her little Ford. It wasn't much, but it got her where she needed to go.

She comes to a stop as she sees a cab parked up. She knocks on his window and he gives her the thumbs up. She assumes that means he is working and she climbs into the back of his car, shutting the door a bit harsher than she meant to.

"Where you wanna go, hun?" He asks and she tells him Rebekah's address.

He starts the car and they begin to move. Hayley sighs and looks out of the window as they travel through New Orleans. Rebekah could have easily picked her up, but apparently whatever is going on is far too important for her to rush out. Hayley doesn't understand what could be that important, but she really does hope that Elijah is in when she arrives at Rebekah's house.

She hasn't seen him since he moved his stuff out of her apartment after their early morning date. Despite telling herself it would be easy to live her life like how it use to be without him, it has been increasingly hard. She misses him a lot more than she ever thought she would as well. He has been the only thing on her mind over the past two days. And when she isn't thinking about him, she is telling Jack something about him that the poor dog doesn't even understand.

By this point, Jack probably feels like he knows Elijah as much as Hayley does.

Once the cab arrives at Rebekah's house, Hayley pays the driver and quickly gets out of the car. Rebekah lives in a lovely detached four bedroom house, not that she needs all of the bedrooms considering it is just her and Marcel who live here. She does intend to have a bunch of kids that will fill up all of them rooms, but for now she has no use for them.

Hayley shoves her hands deep into her jacket pockets and walks up the drive to the front door. She has only ever been in Rebekah's house when she has thrown a party, or invited her around for a drunk girls night. Rebekah usually comes to see Hayley because it's easier with her being the one with the car, but not today. Rebekah has something important going on and she demanded over the phone that Hayley come to hers right away.

And because she is a good friend, here she is at Rebekah's door.

Hayley knocks three times and looks back at the garden. A path leading up to the front door, stones on both sides of the path and then on both sides, matching flower patches in the middle of the stones. Simple but very nice. Probably not done by Rebekah considering Rebekah hates all kinds of dirt, but still very nice.

The door opens and Rebekah grabs Hayley's arm before Hayley can say anything and drags her sister-in-law inside. Rebekah continues to drag Hayley past the living room door and straight up the stairs. Hayley is about to ask what is going on when Rebekah slams the breaks on and shoves Hayley into the bathroom.

She keeps going backwards until the back of her legs hit the side of the bath and she nearly falls. She steadies herself just in time and turns around to Rebekah, folding her arms across her chest.

"What the hell?" Hayley asks the blonde woman.

"I might be pregnant" Rebekah blurts out and shuts the bathroom door.

Hayley watches Rebekah pull the toilet lid down before she sits on it and then folds her own arms across her chest. She can tell that Rebekah is waiting for her to speak, but she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't want to say congratulations because it is bad timing with the whole Marcel cheating thing going on and also it is very unlikely it would happen this fast after seeing a doctor when they have been having trouble for years.

"Have you done a test?" Hayley asks.

"Not yet, that's why I asked you to come."

"Demanded" Hayley corrects and Rebekah fake laughs.

"Very funny, but seriously... what do I do if I am pregnant? I literally just decided that it is terrible timing for children and now I'm late. When I want one, I can't have one, but now I have said not yet, I might be pregnant. How bloody unfair" Rebekah rants.

Hayley gives her friend a quick smile.

"You haven't done a test yet, Rebekah, you might be clear. Just do the test and then if you are pregnant we can talk about your options" Hayley says and Rebekah frowns.

"My options? Piss off bitch, I have waited this long for a baby, whether it is good time of not, if I am pregnant I will be keeping the little rascal" Rebekah says and Hayley laughs under her breath.

Rebekah stands up and opens the cabinet above the sink. She pulls out a pregnancy test box and shuts the cabinet again before she turns to face Hayley. She has a small evil smile on her face and Hayley raises an eyebrow at her.

Rebekah chucks the box at Hayley, who just about catches it.

"Sure you don't need to be taking one with all the romping you and my brother have been doing?" Rebekah says, clearly very amused by herself.

Hayley rolls her eyes and starts to open the box.

Rebekah lifts the toilet lid, drops her pants with not a care in the world and sits down. She frowns when she sees Hayley reading the back of the box for instructions on how to take the test.

"Why are you reading it? I know how to take a pregnancy test, you know? I've taken millions of the things" Rebekah says holding her hand out for the box.

"I was joking when I said you should take one you know" Rebekah says as Hayley hands her the box.

Hayley smiles at Rebekah, but her smile doesn't meet the eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I was just curious" Hayley says and Rebekah nods to her.

She watches as Rebekah pulls one pregnancy stick out of the box and inspects it. She then looks up at Hayley and chucks the box to her again. Hayley knows what comes next and looks down at the box again, continuing to read it as Rebekah starts to wee on the stick.

She stops weeing and holds the stick out to Hayley. She shakes her head and frowns causing Rebekah to laugh out loud before she puts the stick in the sink and grabs the toilet paper.

"You should do one anyway for a joke. If mine says positive we'll use it to scare Elijah before we tell them the truth. Oh my god! We could use it to scare Klaus as well! That plan is brilliant" Rebekah says and Hayley chuckles.

"That does sound quite funny" she says, still reading the box.

Rebekah takes the test out of the sink and puts it on the side of the sink as she washes her hands.

"Jump on then" the blonde says, nodding towards the toilet behind her.

Hayley smiles and shakes her head, but still stands up and goes to the toilet. She has no idea what she is doing, she has never done a pregnancy test in her life, but there is always a first time for everything. She puts the box on the floor and drops her pants as she sits on the toilet. She then picks the box back up and takes the last pregnancy test out of the box before tossing the box back on the floor.

Rebekah finishes off washing her hands slowly so Hayley has chance to wee on the stick. When Hayley has finished, she turns back around with a massive, cheeky smile on her face. She is finding this unbelievably amusing. Hayley holds the stick out to Rebekah and unlike Hayley, she just takes it and puts it on the opposite side of the sink to hers.

Hayley sorts herself out and stands up. She turns and flushes the toilet before she starts washing her hands, looking down from test to test as she does.

"How long do we wait?" Hayley asks as she watches the soup wash off her hands.

Rebekah checks the watch on her wrist.

"Another minute or so should do it" she says.

She walks back over to the toilet and puts the lid down once again before sitting back down there. Hayley also returns to her seat on the edge of the bath after finishing washing her hands and turning off the tap. For some reason she is feeling very anxious about this.

"So, how have the past two days been?" Rebekah asks, despite having been none stop texting Hayley since Klaus returned home.

"Okay, I guess. We spoke for the first time today" Hayley says, looking down at her feet.

"Let me guess, he spat out some poison and you told him to do one before storming here?" Rebekah asks, smirking.

"No actually, he just asked where Elijah was. I told him he was at a hotel" Hayley tells Rebekah, who frowns.

"Why did you say he was at a hotel?" The Mikaelson asks.

"Because if I told him he was at yours right before I come to yours, I'm pretty sure I would be turning up with a broken nose" Hayley says, flinching at her own words.

Rebekah gives her a small, sad smile.

"Where is Elijah anyway?" Hayley asks, assuming Elijah isn't in and desperately wanting to change subject.

Rebekah clears her throat.

"He went into town. He's gone to view an office I think. He plans on coming to live here" Rebekah says, excitedly.

Hayley smiles.

"Any trouble with Marcel recently?" Hayley asks and Rebekah shakes her head.

"Surprisingly, nothing. He has been on his best behaviour. He even spent the whole night texting me whilst he was out with his friends, usually he just ignores me when I try to check on him" Rebekah tells her.

"Maybe he's going to change his ways then" Hayley says as she looks down at her shoes again and Rebekah chuckles.

Hayley looks back up at Rebekah.

"He hasn't changed, believe me, Hayley, I'll know when he has changed" Rebekah says, smirking.

Hayley gives her a questioning look.

"We walked to a nearby cafe yesterday and his eyes were everywhere. When he isn't busy dicking girls, he is having eye sex with them, or winking at them, or anything that he can to get a smile out of them. He's such a man whore" Rebekah says.

"Why not end it then?" Hayley asks, slightly confused.

"Because he's my man whore" Rebekah says and they both laugh.

Hayley knows how hard it was for Rebekah to take Marcel back after everything that happened with the strippers. She also wants Rebekah to be rid of him and his cruel games, but she also wants Rebekah to be happy. And if that means Rebekah stays with Marcel, then she won't say another word.

"I'm going to divorce Klaus by the way" Hayley says once their laughter has died down.

Rebekah opens her mouth in shock and her eyes widen.

"For real? As in 'I am phoning the lawyers' divorce, or 'I am saying it but I will never do it' divorce?" Rebekah asks.

"First one" Hayley says, then adding, "I'm going to phone them sometime this week I think while Klaus is at work."

Rebekah looks at her in shock again.

"Well, I have to say, I'm glad you have finally grown some balls. I love my brother, but you are my friend, I don't want to watch him hurt you for the rest of your life" Rebekah says and Hayley smiles at her.

"I'm glad you agree with what I'm doing" Hayley admits.

"Well, I want you to be happy, Hayley... and you'll end up marrying my other brother anyway, so we'll still get to be sisters" the blonde says and they laugh.

Hayley hadn't thought of that to be honest. She kind of wishes that Rebekah didn't bring it up, because now it will be all she thinks about. Walking down the aisle to Elijah... now that sounds like something Hayley would be interested in doing.

Before Hayley can say anything, Rebekah jumps up.

"Time to check these I think" she says and walks to the sink.

Hayley doesn't bother moving, she will know what the sticks say based on Rebekah's reaction. But Rebekah gives no reaction. She just stands there staring at one of the tests. Hayley guesses that it is negative and stands up, ready to comfort Rebekah. She puts her hand on Rebekah's left shoulder while she leans over Rebekah's right shoulder and looks down at the tests.

The test on the left is negative. The test on the right is positive.

Hayley swallows nervously and quickly tries to remember which stick she peed on. She thinks it is the right one, but she prays to god that her mind is tricking her.

"Who's test is that?" Hayley asks, pointing at the positive test.

Rebekah swallows and lets out a deep breath.

"Yours."

Hayley's heart drops and she opens her mouth to say something, anything, but no words come out. What is there to say? It is positive. Her test is positive. She is pregnant.

"Are you sure, Rebekah?" Hayley asks, needing confirmation.

"Yes I'm bloody sure" Rebekah says, sounding just as panicked at Hayley is right now.

Hayley turns away from Rebekah and puts her head in her hands. She leans the top of her head against the door and shakes her head in her hands. This cannot be happening. She cannot be having one brother's baby while still being married to the other brother. She decides that it must be a dream because there is no way that this can actually be her real life.

Rebekah turns away from the tests and puts her hand on Hayley's back. She rubs up and down her friend's back. She knows exactly why Hayley is panicking and she doesn't blame her. In her position she would react like this as well.

"It's okay, Hayley" Rebekah tries to sooth her friend.

It does not work.

Nothing will calm her down, not after what she has just seen.

She is going to have a child to Elijah while being married to Klaus. Surely this is only the kind of stuff that happens in dreams and nightmares. Hayley shakes her head again as she prays to a god she doesn't believe in that this is just a dream. A terrible dream that she will wake up from any second now.

A small part of her is trying to break through and tell her to be happy; she is having Elijah's baby. They will be parent a child together. They will start a family together... after she survives the divorce to Klaus. If she survives.

Hayley shakes her head yet again.

"If he wasn't going to beat me to death before, he definitely will now" Hayley mutters.

Rebekah rubs her back harder for a few seconds, acknowledging what Hayley has said and trying to comfort her. But just like before, it does not work. Nothing will work.

Hayley breathes in deep as she lifts her head off the door and turns to face Rebekah. Her friend looks just as scared as she is, if not maybe even a little bit more. Rebekah opens her arms and Hayley happily falls into them, closing her eyes and hugging her tightly.

Hayley opens her eyes again and looks down at the test. There is only one line there. Hayley frowns and squints at the test, trying to focus in on the lines. Still, she can only see one now.

She gently pushes her way out of Rebekah's hug and steps towards the test. She stares down at the pregnancy test and sees only one line. She blinks twice, seeing if her vision is off, but it is not. There is only one line displaying on the test. Rebekah comes to stand next to her, putting a supporting hand on her shoulder. She looks down at the test and then at Hayley, but her eyes dart back down to the test when she realises what it says.

"What the fuck?" Rebekah asks as she stares down at the test, open mouthed.

Hayley shakes her head and goes to say something, but stops when she realises she has no idea what to say.

"That was positive. It had two lines. It said pregnant" Rebekah says, the shock clear in her voice.

Hayley shrugs her shoulders.

"You saw that didn't you?" Rebekah asks, nodding at the test.

"Yes, of course I did" Hayley confirms and Rebekah nods.

"Well, what the bloody hell happened?" She asks and Hayley shrugs again.

"Not a clue, but I'm going to be suing the company who made that shitty test; I almost had a heart attack" Hayley says and pushes the test into the sink.

"So much for a funny joke" Hayley mutters as she leaves the bathroom.

Hayley leans against the bedroom door that is opposite the bathroom and lets out a deep breath. She watches Rebekah put both tests in the bin before she closes her eyes. After that scare, she never wants to see another pregnancy test in her life.


	23. Chapter 23

Hayley sighs as she walks to the couch with a bottle of water in her hand and Jack following close behind her. She looks down at him and sees him looking right back at her, she smiles. He has barely left her side whenever she has been in the apartment recently. He is either being extra friendly because he understands what has been going on, or he senses danger coming and wants to protect Hayley the best he can.

She flops down onto the couch and opens her bottle of water as Jack dives up next to her. She takes a sip from the bottle and holds the cold bottle against her stomach. She sees Jack twitch his ear as he watches her and she smiles at him. She takes another swig from the bottle, but Jack continues to look at her stomach and Hayley frowns.

She puts the lid back on the bottle and puts the bottle to one side. Before she gets the chance to stroke him, Jack lies down on her, resting his head on her stomach. Hayley smiles again.

"You're a big baby, aren't you" she says to Jack and his tail wags slightly.

Hayley tickles behind his ear and sighs as she closes her eyes. She has spent most of the day at the gym and she has really exhausted herself out, especially with the new trainer she was working with. He seemed determined to kill her.

Just as Hayley feels herself falling into a deep sleep, a loud bang wakes her up. She jumps forwards and wonders where Jack is because he isn't on the couch anymore. She stands and turns around to look at the door to see Klaus swaying gently there. Jack is sat close to him, but not too close. He is very weary of Klaus at the minute, as is everyone.

Hayley considers walking straight to the bedroom, or the guest bedroom, but something inside of her tells her that would be stupid. Trapping herself inside a room with him would be stupid. Instead she stays still and continues to watch him sway from left, to right, a bottle of what looks like Vodka in his left hand. That is definitely not good, Hayley decides and bites her bottom lip in anticipation of what her husband will do once he has stopped swaying.

Finally, after minutes of standing in silence, Klaus looks up. He sees Hayley instantly and his renown evil smirk rises on his lips. Hayley swallows nervously; she knows what comes next and nothing in the world could ever prepare her for it.

"You look good?" Klaus says, his speech a lot slower than usual because of his drinking. "You been working out?"

Hayley doesn't want to speak, so she just nods her head.

Klaus licks his lips and takes a step forwards, pointing at Hayley as he speaks.

"Bet my brother appreciates all that working out" he says and the atmosphere chances from scary to terrifying.

Hayley shakes her head, determined to lie to save her life, no matter how much she hates it.

"I haven't seen Elijah" she says and Klaus throws his head back, nearly falling backwards, and laughs.

He then stops laughing and stares at Hayley, his eyes filled with seriousness.

"You're a fuckin liar."

Hayley shakes her head quickly and goes to speak, but he beats her to it.

"I know you all too well, Hayley. Try to cope with me by day, fuckin my brother by night, is that how you like to play it?" Klaus asks, taking another step forwards.

"No" Hayley says, shaking her head again.

Klaus rolls his eyes and takes a swig from the bottle in his hand.

"While I'm out earning money for you to spend, you're out doing all the things you should be doing for me, to him... you dirty whore. That's what you are, Hayley, a dirty whore" he says, walking closer.

Hayley continues to shake her head and starts to step backwards as Klaus walks around the couch.

She has no idea how to convince him otherwise, but she figures that she has to try.

"Klaus, I haven't seen him, honestly, I haven't" she says and he just smiles at her.

"Stop lying, Hayley, you're shit at it" he says and her heart beat increases rapidly.

Hayley finds herself up against the living room wall and she is tempted to dart around the wall and down the corridor to lock herself in the bathroom. But she knows he could easily kick down the door. She tries hard to think of some way to escape, but it is too late. He is stood directly in front of her with nothing in between them to stop him from hurting her. She wants to cry, but she will never let him see her at her weakest.

Klaus drops the bottle and it smashes, glass shattering around the room. He does not bother to look down at the mess and Hayley does not dare take her eyes off Klaus. They stare into each others eyes for a few seconds. He sees her fear and her panic, she sees his anger and his rage. Hayley doesn't like what she sees. Klaus loves what he sees.

Klaus suddenly grabs her by the chin and she instantly tries to push away from him, but he keeps a tight grip on her. He moves his face closer to hers. She can feel his stubble on her chin and smell the strong stench of alcohol on his breath as he lets his lips hover literally barely even an inch away from hers. She closes her eyes and accepts what is about to happen to her, but surprisingly instead of kissing her, Klaus slams the back of her head against the wall.

He moves his lips right next to her ear.

"Your husband is the one who fucks you... not your brother-in-law. Remember that."

Klaus drops his hand and turns away from her. Hayley instantly leans back against the wall and takes deep breaths to try and calm herself down as she watches him go to walk towards the door. But just as he reaches the couch, he changes his mind.

"Actually... maybe I should show you what you've been missing out on" He says and makes his way towards her.

Hayley shakes her head, desperate for him not to hurt her, touch her, or come anywhere near her. But it is useless. He is about to reach her and she closes her eyes tightly expecting to be hit, or dragged to the bedroom any second now. But that first punch does not come. And neither does the second. Or the third. His hands never touch her. However, she does here a loud growling sound quite close to her.

Hayley opens her eyes to see Jack stood in between her and Klaus. The hackles on his back are standing high and his front is slightly lower to the ground, ready to attack. Klaus stares down at the dog with pure disgust. The dog he found and picked out at the shelter, the dog that he saved from being put down, is turning against him. He then looks up at Hayley and she when she meets his eyes she is sure she can see what she imagines to be a look of insanity in his eyes.

Hayley slowly makes her way towards the door as Jack continues to growl at Klaus. Klaus keeps his eyes on Jack in case the Husky decides to bite. He only risks turning to look at Hayley when he hears the door open. They stare at each other for a few seconds and then Hayley whistles and Jack quickly runs to her. There is no way she is leaving him here after the way Klaus just looked at him.

Klaus raises his eyebrows and gives her a small smile.

"I see the mutt has chosen his alpha" Klaus says and looks Hayley up and down.

"You might have saved him from the shelters, but I put the time and effort into caring for him" Hayley says and Klaus goes to speak, but she speaks first. "And I'm phoning the lawyers tomorrow... I'm getting a divorce."

Klaus' eyes go wide with rage and Hayley quickly shuts the door. The elevator opens and as one couple get off, she jumps on with Jack. She looks down at him and finds he is looking up at her again. She strokes his head and hopes that Klaus is too drunk to catch up to her.

The elevator reaches the bottom and Hayley wastes no time in jogging out of it and leaving the building. The second she walks out she feels the terrible rain and she looks up at the sky for a few seconds before looking down to see Jack sat watching her. She looks back at him and sighs, looking back to check Klaus isn't here yet.

She decides that she will go to Rebekah's house. And she will have to run considering her money is upstairs with her murderous husband.

"I don't have your leash, so please stay close" Hayley says to Jack and he stands up, wagging his tail and ready to go.

Hayley hears the elevator ding and sets off running as fast as she can. Jack watches the elevator doors open and sees Klaus stood there before he barks and runs after Hayley. He catches up to her quickly and then runs beside her at a pace just slightly faster than Hayley.

The rain is terrible and soon becomes a storm. Strong winds start to swoop over New Orleans, along with hailstone and even more rain. Hayley knows that this is the worst weather ever to be running in, especially with Jack, but she didn't really have a choice. If she did she would not be running through the streets of New Orleans in drenched clothes with what will soon be a smelly wet dog.

After what feels like hours of running, they reach Rebekah's house. Hayley stops on the porch and leans over while she catches her breath. Jack takes advantage of her face being close and licks her cheek before he continues to pant like mad. Hayley smiles and stands up straight again. She gives him a quick stroke on his head and then knocks on the door.

Hayley didn't expect Jack to be so well behaved off his leash with what she has been told about some Huskies before, but he has surprised her. She smiles at him again to let him know how proud of him she is and he seems to understand because he wags his tail.

The door opens and Hayley looks to her right to see Marcel stood there.

"Jeez, Hayley, you're literally dripping, get in here" he says and she walks past him and into the house.

Jack follows her closely.

Marcel shuts the door and says, "why did you run here in this weather?"

Hayley tries to come up with an explanation so she won't have to tell him about Klaus, but she comes up with nothing. Unless she doesn't tell him the whole story...

"Me and Klaus argued and I didn't want to be around him. Jack just followed me out" she says and Marcel nods.

He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and she considers pulling away in case he is up to his usual tricks. But when he gives her his best attempt at an understanding smile, she knows he isn't trying anything.

"Things will get better soon. And if they don't, you're always welcome here, Hayley" he says and she smiles at him.

"Thank you, Marcel" Hayley says and he smiles at her before nodding.

He drops his hand from her shoulder and shouts up the stairs to Rebekah. He then gives Hayley one last smile and goes into the living room, probably to watch tv.

Hayley stands at the bottom of the stairs shivering for a few seconds before Rebekah appears at the top of the stairs.

"What the bloody hell did he do now?" She asks as she makes her way downstairs.

"He just called me a few things. He did try to hit me, but Jack stopped him" Hayley says and they both look down at the dog.

Rebekah reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"Jesus, Hayley, you must be freezing. Come on, let's get you out of those wet clothes" Rebekah says and starts going back up stairs. She then asks "did Jack bite him?"

Hayley follows her upstairs, Jack still staying close behind her.

"No, he jumped in between us and growled at him" Hayley says, then adding, "he's never done that before."

Rebekah smiles.

"Maybe he's sick of seeing Klaus treat you like shit" she says as they reach the top of the stairs.

Rebekah leads Hayley into her and Marcel's room. She goes straight to the wardrobe on the right and pulls out a plain black top. She then throws it over to Hayley, who catches it. Rebekah then walks to the chest of drawers and pulls out a pair of jogging bottoms. She holds them up in front of her and looks at Hayley.

"These okay?" Rebekah asks and Hayley nods.

She chucks the pants to Hayley as well and then looks down at Jack, who is sat waiting patiently at the door.

"He will have to be bathed" she says and Hayley looks at him.

"Yeah, I'll do it after I've changed" Hayley says and Jack tilts his head at her.

"I'll leave you to get changed then. Whenever you're ready, I'll be in the kitchen. I'll make you something to warm you up" she says and Hayley smiles.

"Thank you, Rebekah" she says and Rebekah gives her a quick smile before she leaves the room.

Hayley lets out a deep sigh. Jack moves into the room and lies down in the middle of the floor. Hayley smiles at him and moves to the door to shut it while she changes. She then pulls off her wet top and jeans, and pulls on Rebekah's dry clothes.

Hayley picks up her wet clothes and opens the door again. She puts them in the washing basket on the landing, reminding herself to tell Rebekah that she has put them in there so she can get them back when she leaves. She turns around and looks at Jack, he is watching her every move. She pats her thigh and he jumps up and runs to her instantly. She strokes his wet fur and grabs his collar, expecting him to struggle.

"Come on, Jack. Bath time" she says and starts to walk to the bathroom.

Jack surprises her again when he does not try to escape, or run away. He lets her take him to the bathroom. Hayley has no idea what has gotten into him, but she makes the most of it. She walks into the bathroom and before she can even pull him towards the bathtub, he tries to jump in it. She chuckles in shock and lets go of his collar, and to her surprise he jumps straight in.

Hayley doesn't waste any time. She takes the shower down from it's rack and turns it on. She waits for it to be the right temperature before running it along Jack's body. After a few minutes she picks up the closest shampoo and puts a bit on his back. She is reluctant to use human shampoo on him, but she doesn't want him to smell.

She rubs the shampoo in and she is extremely shocked when Jack does not try to shake it off. At this point shampoo would usually be flying all around the room. She picks the shower up again and showers him down, washing off the shampoo.

When she is sure all of the shampoo is out of his fur and he smells nice, Hayley turns the shower off and hangs it back on it's rack. She grabs a towel from the small shelf next to the toilet and Jack jumps out of the bath. Hayley rubs up and down his body with the towel.

"Thank you" she whispers to him.

She is thanking him for what he did earlier when he stopped Klaus from hitting her, and he seems to know this. He lets out a small whine and rubs his nose against her cheek. Hayley smiles and kisses him on the head before she finishes drying him.

Hayley strokes Jack behind the ear for a few seconds before she walks to the washing basket with the damp towel. She drops the towel in the basket and turns around to see Elijah crouched on the floor stroking Jack. She smiles as she watches him run his hand over Jack's head and down his back.

Elijah notices that Hayley is watching and looks over at her, giving her a dazzling corner of the mouth kind of smile. She bites her lip as she feels herself blushing slightly. Elijah stands up straight and slowly makes his way over to her.

"Did he hurt you?" He asks, referring to Klaus.

Hayley shakes her head. "He tried, but Jack made him back off."

Elijah turns back and looks at the dog. He smiles at him and then looks back at Hayley.

"He's a good dog" he says and Hayley nods her head.

They stand in silence for a few seconds, but neither of them feel uncomfortable. Elijah lets out a deep breath and reaches out to touch a piece of Hayley's wet hair. She watches his face closely as his hand moves from her hair to her chest, right over her heart.

"Stay" he says, his voice croaking a bit. "Stay here tonight."

Hayley smiles.

"Okay" she says and moves closer to him.

She puts her on hand on his cheek and pulls his lips down to hers. His hands automatically find her waist and hold her against him, letting her know she is safe here with him. She breaks the kiss and smiles when Elijah pulls her in for another kiss. This is the kind of love she wants.

When they part, Hayley puts her head on his chest and wraps her arms around him. Elijah smiles and wraps his arms around her, returning her hug. He sees Rebekah looking up at them and smirking from downstairs. He smiles at her and Rebekah points to the kitchen and then to Hayley and then to the kitchen again. Elijah nods his head and Rebekah smiles before going back into the kitchen.

Elijah kisses the top of Hayley's head and then pulls away, but keeps his arms around her waist.

"Rebekah has something for you in the kitchen" he says and then touches Hayley's arm. He frowns and says, "you're freezing, didn't you bring a jacket?"

Hayley shakes her head.

"I didn't think about bringing anything. I just wanted to get out of there" she says and Elijah tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

He kisses her forehead.

"I'll find you something, you go to the kitchen" he says and Hayley smiles at him.

She nods and watches him go into the room at the far end of the landing on the left. That is probably the room he has been staying in. She then looks at Jack and winks at him before she runs downstairs. Jack runs after her, not wanting to let her out of his sight.

Hayley stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns left into the kitchen to see Rebekah cleaning the pots. On the table in the middle of the kitchen is a plate of cookies and a small bowl of noodles. She smiles as she takes a seat at the table and folds her arms to try and warm herself up a bit.

Rebekah turns around and smiles at her.

"The noodles are all for you, the cookies however, are Marcel's favourite, so he may come in and steal some. But feel free to have as many as you like" she says to her brown haired friend.

Hayley smiles and picks up the fork that is sat on the table.

"Thanks, Rebekah. I really appreciate it" Hayley says as she pulls the bowl of noodles closer to her.

Rebekah turns back around and continues to clean the pots as she speaks.

"You don't have to thank me, we're family. Family look after each other" she says as Elijah comes up behind Hayley and puts a black blazer over her shoulders.

Hayley looks up at him and smiles. He smiles back and then takes a seat next to her.

Hayley puts a fork full of noddles into her mouth and makes a noise of approval.

"Super noodles" Elijah says and nods towards the bowl. "Rebekah has them imported from England" he tells Hayley.

Rebekah turns around and smiles at her brother.

"I knew it wouldn't be long before you joined us" she says and Elijah gives her a small smile.

Hayley chuckles as she continues to each her food. She notices that Jack isn't sat beside her begging, but instead he is lay next to her not making a sound. It is very unlike him.

Rebekah finishes doing the pots and turns back around to Elijah and Hayley as she dries her hands with a towel. She watches Elijah watch Hayley eat her noodles and she smirks. Her brother has got it bad. She shakes her head and laughs under her breath to herself as she puts the towel over the back of the chair opposite Hayley.

"Right, I'm going to go and turn whatever shit Marcel has on off and put a film on. You can join us after you've finished if you want" Rebekah says and both Elijah and Hayley nod.

Rebekah takes four cookies off the plate and then walks out of the kitchen, gently stroking Hayley's shoulder on the way out.

Elijah looks at Hayley for a few seconds and decides that he will do what his heart is telling him to do. He puts his arm around the back of her chair and rests his head on her shoulder. Hayley stops eating and smiles. She kisses the top of his head and leans her cheek on his head for a few seconds before she starts eating again.

"I'm glad you're okay" he says quietly.

"I'm glad you're here. You wasn't here last time I came" Hayley says, trying to tell him how much she has missed him.

"I was signing the contract for the office I am going to be renting out. It's mine to do what I please with now" Elijah tells her.

"That's good. When are you starting work?" Hayley asks before putting a fork full of noodles into her mouth.

Elijah takes his head off her shoulder.

"As soon as I have three more therapists to work along side me" he says and Hayley nods.

She scrapes the rest of the noodles onto her fork and finishes them off. She puts the fork in the bowl and pulls Elijah's blazer tighter around her. She looks at him and he smiles at her. She smiles back and leans in to give him a quick kiss.

Elijah smiles at her again before he stands up and takes her bowl to the sink. He puts the bowl in the sink and takes a cookie off the plate on the table. He bites into it and nods his head as he chews. Hayley guesses that means they are good.

"They're good" Elijah says as he picks up the plate. "But mine are better" he then says as he walks past Hayley to go into the living room.

Hayley laughs and stands up. She follows him into the living room and Jack follows her.


	24. Chapter 24

He is chasing her. Her husband is chasing her. Klaus is chasing her.

Hayley runs for her life. She runs quicker than she has ever run before, but still it is not enough. Klaus is gaining on her more and more by the minute and there is only so long she can run from him before she gets caught. She figured out quite recently that he would be the end of her, but she didn't think it would be this soon. And she didn't even get to say her goodbyes...

Klaus grabs her arm and yanks her backwards. She goes flying to the floor and smacks her head extremely hard, causing it to bleed instantly. She shakes her head to try and shake away the tears, but as Klaus slowly closes in she can't seem to stop them any longer. Klaus stands over her and her tears pore down her face, showing no sign of stopping any time soon. She dares to look up and Klaus' fist makes his way towards her face.

Hayley jumps awake, panting and sweating. The room is not familiar and she looks around as she tries to calm herself down. Two walls are grey, two are white, the curtains are black to prevent even the slightest bit of sunlight from getting through. There is a wardrobe to the left of her and a naked Elijah Mikaelson to the right of her.

Hayley closes her eyes and lets herself fall back onto the bed.

It was just a dream.

Hayley opens her eyes again and rubs them to wake herself up. She checks the clock on the bed side cabinet, it reads 10:29am. She looks back over at the beautiful creature lay in bed with her and smiles. Her heart rate drops slightly as she stares at Elijah; she knows that she is safe here with him by her side.

Hayley turns onto her side and bites her bottom lip as she admires Elijah's sleeping form. The bed covers are only covering everything below his waist, leaving his gorgeous torso unprotected and open for her to stare at. She smiles as she remembers only too easily how soft his body feels. Her smile widens when her eyes reach his small patch of chest hair. She has never slept with a man with chest hair before Elijah, but she likes it. She finds it very masculine. Her eyes finally rise to his face and she smiles yet again.

Elijah's face is something Hayley could stare at everyday for the rest of her life, and still find it just as interesting and handsome as all of the many days before. She reaches out and puts her hand on his chin to feel his prickly stubble. She likes the feel of his stubble, especially when it brushes against her body while he is going down on her.

Elijah stirs and lets out a deep breath before he turns to his left and looks at Hayley. His eyes fall to her breasts that are not covered by the bed sheets and he smirks as last nights memories come flooding back.

Last night at two o'clock in the morning, Hayley crept into his room in nothing but a borrowed nightgown and her underwear. However, instead of pouncing at her, he was the perfect gentleman. He went downstairs and got them both a soda before returning and sitting up for an hour talking to her. He loves listening to her talk and he enjoyed every second of it almost as much as what came next.

Elijah is pulled out of his thoughts when Hayley shuffles closer to him and pulls him into a kiss. He smiles against her mouth and growls playfully as he pushes her onto her back and climbs on top of her. Hayley laughs and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling his head to her shoulder and hugging him. He nuzzles her shoulder and kisses it before he pulls away and smiles down at her with one of his most charming smiles.

"Good morning" he says, smirking down at her.

Hayley bites her lip to stop herself from blushing at Elijah's husky morning voice.

"Morning" she says before pulling him in for another kiss.

Elijah deepens the kiss, letting his tounge slip into Hayley's mouth and explore. She hums in response to his adventurous tounge and meets his tounge with her own, twisting them together. She can feel her body starting to react to him and she is tempted to take things further, but she wants to talk to him first.

Hayley pulls away slowly and strokes Elijah's cheek. They are both out of breath from the kiss.

"Are you okay?" Elijah asks, breathing slightly quicker than usual.

"I'm always am when I'm away from him" Hayley says, referring to Klaus.

Elijah stays silent.

"I'm phoning the divorce lawyers today" Hayley says and then pauses. "I don't even know what to say to them. What do I say to them? Do I tell them everything, or nothing?"

Elijah frowns as he carefully considers his next words.

"I would assume it would be best to tell them everything so that they are fully prepared to defend you if it goes to court, but it is completely your choice, Hayley. You don't have to tell them anything you don't feel comfortable with them knowing" Elijah says, gently.

Hayley nods.

"I'm gonna have to research this kind of stuff before I phone" Hayley says, slightly disappointed.

"We can go over some online reviews and advice together if you like?" Elijah offers and Hayley smiles.

"That sounds good" she says and strokes her hand down his cheek, stopping at his neck.

Elijah kisses Hayley's forehead.

"I'll be there every step of the way. I'll be there whenever you need me, I promise" Elijah says with his forehead pressed against Hayley's.

She smiles and pulls his lips to hers.

"Thank you, Elijah" Hayley whispers and kisses him again.

Suddenly very aware of their naked bodies are pressing against each other, Elijah runs his index finger down Hayley's cheek, down her neck and over her hard nipple. Hayley shivers slightly, but quickly regains control of herself and flips them over. She straddles Elijah's waist and continues to kiss him while her hands run free over his body.

Her hands run up and down his chest, nails scratching lightly every now and again. While Elijah's hands sit firmly on Hayley's hips as if he is waiting for her to give him the go ahead. Hayley grinds against his waist and Elijah is about to flip her over when the bed dips.

They stop kissing and look to their left to see Jack sat watching them. His tounge is hanging out and his eyes are filled with the love he has been waiting to give out since the second he woke up. Hayley chuckles and reaches out to Jack, stroking his chest. Elijah sighs and smiles at Hayley as he watches her pet her dog.

"I guess that's that put on hold then" Hayley says, smirking as she continues to stroke Jack.

Elijah also smirks.

"Well, I could always throw him out" he jokes and Hayley looks at him in fake shock.

"Even after everything he did for me yesterday?" Hayley asks and smiles at Elijah.

Elijah sits up and wraps his arms around Hayley's waist as he stares deeply into her eyes.

"After yesterday, I consider him to be more worthy of my family name than my brother" Elijah says and Hayley chuckles.

Elijah playfully throws Hayley down on the bed and gets up. Jack jumps on her, trying to join in and Hayley laughs and tries to cover herself with the bed sheets. Elijah pulls some fresh boxers from a drawer in the bed side cabinet and pulls them on. He then pulls out a pair of black socks and sits on the bed as he pulls them on.

While Hayley struggles to keep Jack from going under the covers, Elijah goes to his wardrobe and pulls out a pair of grey suit pants. He pulls them on quickly and then takes a black shirt off it's hanger before pulling it on. He then turns around and whistles, causing Jack to jump off the bed and go to him.

Hayley sits up and watches with a smile on her face as Elijah strokes down Jack's body. Hayley bites her lip as she notices Elijah has not yet buttoned up his shirt. It would be easy for her to drag him back to bed, undo his zipper and have her way with him. She blinks in shock and shakes her head. She is a lot hornier than normal as of recently and she has no idea why.

"I'll go and get your clothes from Rebekah. She washed them last night" Elijah says and Hayley smiles at him before he leaves the room.

When he goes, Hayley pats the bed and Jack jumps back up. This time, he curls up at the side of her, resting his chin on her covered thigh. Hayley sighs and strokes his head as she brings her face closer to his.

"You ready to face him?" She asks the dog, referring to going home and seeing Klaus.

Jack lets out a small whine and she smiles sadly.

"Yeah, me neither" she says and slouches back on the bed.

Elijah returns holding Hayley's clothes folded neatly in his hand. His shirt is now buttoned up and tucked into his suit pants, and he is wearing his pricey black shoes. His attire for the day is almost complete, now he just needs either one of his blazers, or one of his coats. He chooses a grey blazer from the wardrobe.

Elijah places the clothes on the bed next to Hayley and pulls his blazer on before he then moves around the room to collect her underwear.

"Shame I have to wear yesterdays underwear" she comments.

Elijah hands the bra and knickers to her and she sighs as she pulls the bra over her head.

"I can't do much about a new bra, but you could lend some of my underwear if you wish" Elijah says.

"You're gonna let me borrow you're boxers?" Hayley asks, smirking.

Elijah smiles at her.

"I guess it's better than yesterdays underwear" he says and Hayley nods.

He is right.

"Yeah okay, if you don't mind" Hayley says.

Elijah moves back around the bed and opens the drawer again. He pulls out a black pair of Calvin Klein's and holds them out to Hayley. She smirks as she takes them off him. The last pair of men's boxers she wore belonged to her husband. But her husband is the last thing on her mind as she pulls Elijah's boxers on.

She stands up and moves her legs as she gets use to wearing them. Elijah watches her with a smirk on his face. She looks up at him and holds out her hands, posing for him.

"What do you think?" She asks, playfully.

Elijah's smile widens as he admires his boxers on her.

"I think you'll have to wear them more often" he says and Hayley laughs.

Hayley pulls on her jeans and her top from yesterday. She then turns around to see Elijah on his phone. It isn't something she is use to seeing, in fact, she wasn't sure he properly knew how to use it. He walks over to her and holds his phone out to her.

Hayley takes the phone and reads what the screen displays. It is a bunch of different links to what to tell divorce lawyers and what not to tell them. She clicks on one of the links and it takes her to a page with paragraphs of information about the subject. She blinks in surprise, she was hoping for a simple sentence answering her question, not fifty paragraphs.

Elijah holds his hand out and Hayley looks at him before placing the phone back in his hand.

"We can look at that more whilst we are out" he tells her.

"Where are we going?" Hayley asks as she follows Elijah out of his room.

"For a walk" Elijah says as they start to walk downstairs.

Jack waits for a few seconds to see if they come back. When they don't, he rushes out after them. He runs down the stairs to them and jumps up at Hayley, desperately wanting to go out with them.

"It's a good job I have a spare leash, isn't it?" Rebekah says as she walks in from the kitchen.

Elijah smiles at her and she returns the smile.

"Good morning, sister" he greets her.

"Good morning, Elijah" Rebekah says as she hands Hayley the leash. "Where are you too off then?"

Hayley looks at Elijah, waiting for him to tell Rebekah.

"Just for a walk. I'll drop Hayley off afterwards" Elijah tells his sister.

Rebekah nods.

"Well, in that case, it has been lovely having you, Hayley. And I know me and Marcel have already said this a million times, but I'm going to say it again, because we really mean it... you are always welcome here" Rebekah says.

Hayley smiles and pulls the blonde in for a quick hug. Rebekah then pulls away and strokes Jack's head, a silent goodbye.

"I'll come and see you soon" Rebekah says and smiles at Hayley.

"I look forward to it" Hayley says.

Rebekah goes back into the kitchen. Hayley clips Jack's leash on and looks up at Elijah. He opens the door and moves to the side for Hayley to go first. He then shuts the door behind them.

They take a left once they leave Rebekah's garden. Hayley does not know much of this neighbourhood, but she assumes that Elijah does because he seems to be leading them somewhere. They walk in silence at first, but it is a nice silence. She is surprised with how quiet the neighbourhood is. Something is always going on near Hayley's apartment, but here, there is almost no noise at all.

"Why is it so quiet around here?" Hayley asks Elijah.

"The children are at school, the parents are working and this isn't considered a main road, so traffic is not too bad" Elijah explains and she nods in acknowledgement.

Hayley bites her lip and slowly takes Elijah's hand in hers as they walk. She doesn't know why, but she expects him to reject her, or tell her they can't be seen in public, but he does none of that. He just continues to walk while holding her hand. Jack looks up at them and Hayley swears that if he could he would smile at her.

"How do the boxers feel?" Elijah asks.

Hayley chuckles at his question.

"Very comfy actually. Guess I will have to start wearing these more often" she says, jokingly.

"You can wear them as often as you please as long as Niklaus doesn't get his hands onto them" Elijah says, trying to hide his worry through a joke.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in a safe place" Hayley tells him.

Elijah looks down and smirks.

"That place had better be extra safe, because they happen to be one of my favourite pairs" Elijah says and Hayley smiles.

"Why give them to me then?" She asks.

Elijah takes a deep breath.

"Because you are quickly becoming one of my favourite people" he admits.

Hayley can feel herself blushing, but she doesn't care. She is far too happy with what Elijah just said to care.

Hayley squeezes his hand for a few seconds, to let him know the feeling is mutual. She smiles when a few seconds later he squeezes her hand back.

Another few minutes later, a park comes into view. Hayley looks over the park and she likes what she sees. There is a climbing frame for the children, none are on it now though. There are numerous benches and picnic areas, they will come in very handy for when Rebekah has her baby and they all come out together. There is a giant lake with ducks swimming around in it, which is next to two food vans and a cafe. There is even a closed off section for dogs.

"This place is brilliant" Hayley says as they approach one of the picnic benches.

"This park is one of the reasons why Rebekah chose that house. When she agreed to move in with Marcel, she instantly started looking at family friendly neighbourhoods. Luckily enough, she found this paradise" Elijah tells her.

Hayley looks up at the giant oak trees above her and smiles.

"It's beautiful" Hayley says and Elijah looks at her, smiling himself.

He can imagine being here with her and Jack, Rebekah, Marcel and their future child. And maybe a child of their own. A mini Elijah, or Hayley. He can imagine that child playing with Jack on the grass, playing on the climbing frame, feeding the ducks... he can imagine it all. But he can never have that child that he can imagine so clearly.

Elijah shakes his head, shaking away his thoughts. He takes a seat at the bench and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He unlocks it and gets the links up again as Hayley takes a seat right next to him. Elijah hands her the phone and takes Jack's leash off her. He strokes Jack under the table while Hayley scrolls through the links.

"This one woman says that if you want a quick and easy divorce, you tell them nothing" Hayley says.

"But what if Niklaus decides he wants to take things to court? Then your lawyer will have nothing to use against him and you will come out of the court room worse off" Elijah says and Hayley bites her lip.

"You have a good point. A lot more people are saying to tell everything to be honest" she says, continuing to scroll.

Hayley rubs her eyes and puts the phone down on the table.

"How am I meant to say that I want a divorce because my husband hits me? How do I just come out with something like that?" She asks, stressed.

Elijah stops stroking Jack and looks at her.

"You tell him you want a divorce as soon as possible because your husband has become abusive. You don't know why and you don't wish to prosecute, you just want a quick divorce. That is if you don't wish to prosecute?" Elijah adds at the end.

Hayley considers it for a second. She could send Klaus down for years and ruin his life, ruin everything he has ever worked for. But for some reason, she just doesn't have it in her to do that to him. Even after everything she has been through because of him, she doesn't want to hurt him like that.

"No, I'm not prosecuting, just divorcing" she says and Elijah can't help but smile.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Elijah speaks.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asks.

Hayley looks up at him, a questioning look on her face.

"Okay" she says, cautiously, unsure of what he might ask.

Elijah goes to speak, but stops and looks down at the floor. He seems to think very hard about his question, unsure whether he should ask it or not. Unsure whether he even has a right to ask it or not. Eventually, he decides that he has every right to ask.

"What happens after your divorce?"

Hayley is taken back. She doesn't know what will happen after her divorce. She has thought about it a lot, but Klaus is unpredictable and therefore, so is her future. She would love to be able to answer his question, but she honestly doesn't think she can for that reason. Klaus will not accept the divorce lightly and he will never accept her relationship with Elijah. Her future is just destined to be an unpredictable mess.

"I'm sorry, Elijah... I don't have an answer for you" she says, sadly.

Hayley notices how Elijah's head lowers. He is sad. She puts her hand on his thigh, trying to comfort him, to reassure him.

"That isn't because I don't want you. I do want you. I want a future with you, but I don't know how the divorce will go, or what will happen" Hayley tries to explain herself.

"You mean you don't trust that Niklaus will let you go that easily" Elijah says and Hayley is relieved that he understands.

"He's possessive" Hayley says and takes Elijah's free hand in both of hers. "He will hurt anyone who tries to take me away from him... and you have pretty much have. He's taking his anger out on me now, but I know he wants to hurt you. I don't want him to hurt you."

Elijah turns to look at her.

"He can hurt me as much as he wants. All that matters is that he doesn't hurt you" Elijah says.

Hayley shakes her head.

"You matter too."

"Not nearly as much as you" he replies.

"Elijah, please... you matter to me. Him hurting you is him hurting me" Hayley says, staring into his big, brown eyes.

Elijah drops Jack's leash and brings his hand up to Hayley's face. He cups her cheek and brings her forehead to his. They stay like that for a few seconds before he pulls her lips to his and kisses her passionately.

"I want a future with you too" he says and Hayley smiles.

"I didn't think you heard that" Hayley says, her voice just above a whisper.

A small smile appears on Elijah's face and he pulls away from her slightly.

"I hear every word that leaves you mouth" he says, as charming as ever.

Hayley pulls Elijah into a hug. She clings onto him tightly and buries her head into his neck, nuzzling at the soft skin there. Elijah also holds onto her tightly. He never wants to let her go, but he knows that she has to get everything out of the way with Klaus before they can ever be together properly. And that's if Klaus doesn't try to stop them from being together after. They have a long, hard road ahead of them.

Hayley sighs and pulls away from Elijah. She strokes his cheek and gives him a quick kiss before she stands up from the picnic bench. Jack stands up instantly and moves closer to her. She picks up his leash and holds her hand out to Elijah. He stands up and takes her hand.

The walk back to Rebekah's house where Elijah's car is waiting for them, is too quick and too painful. Hayley feels nervous about going home, anxious about leaving Elijah's side, upset that she will have to say goodbye to him again. But she has to go home. Well, she wouldn't call it home anymore. The apartment isn't her home anymore, it is just somewhere she is living.

The drive to her apartment seems far too quick as well. Hayley actually almost suggests that they stop somewhere for food, or a drink, or something, anything to spend a bit more time with Elijah. And as they pull up outside of Hayley's apartment building, she regrets not asking Elijah to take her for food so very much it almost hurts her. She wishes it didn't have to be like this. But now it is time to face the music.

"I hate this" Elijah is the first to speak.

"I hate knowing that you are going to be in there alone with that man."

Hayley is quite shocked with how he is referring to his brother, but she doesn't comment.

"Hopefully it will be over soon. Klaus will be at work, so I'll phone the lawyers when I get in" Hayley tells Elijah.

He nods his head. He then looks up at her and swallows.

"Hayley" she turns to look at him and he grabs her face and pulls it to his.

Elijah tries to put as much passion and care into the kiss as he can. He tries to let her know that someone does care about her before he watches her walk back to the man who will try to destroy her with every second she spends in that apartment. He hopes that one day he will be able to take Hayley away from all of this.

Hayley pulls away and then kisses Elijah's cheek.

"I'll text you" Hayley says and Elijah nods.

He doesn't say goodbye because he will come back for her. And because he will be coming back, there is no reason to say goodbye to her.

Elijah watches as Hayley gets out of his car and desperately tries not to cringe as she shuts the door. He watches as she opens the back door and Jack jumps out. And he watches as she walks, as slowly as she can, into the apartment building before he pulls out into the road and drives away.

Hayley and Jack step into the elevator, both looking quite sad. Hayley pushes the button for her floor and sighs. She wants to run in, grab as much as she can and run out. But she won't. She will do this the normal way. She will call the lawyer, have a meeting with him and then move out while the case moves forwards. No doubt Klaus will be there to try and bully her out of it the entire way, but she will be strong and get through this.

The elevator doors open and Jack is off before Hayley. He sits by the door patiently waiting for Hayley to open it. Hayley steps off the elevator and takes the key Rebekah gave her out of her pocket. She unlocks the door and Jack runs in, heading towards the kitchen. He is probably going to get one of his toys.

Hayley sighs and steps into the apartment. She shuts the door behind her and slowly walks into the kitchen to see Jack lay on the floor with his toy squirrel. She smiles down at him, but her smile doesn't meet her eyes.

"Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon, boy" Hayley says to Jack.

"Says who?"

Hayley's heart drops. She slowly turns around... and there he is... Klaus.


	25. Chapter 25

Hayley contemplates running to the door, but she knows that she will never make it. She could grab a knife and threaten him, but she has seen too many cases like this on TV and the wife always goes down. No matter what the husband did to get her to the point that she felt she had to fight back. She even considers telling Jack to attack Klaus, but she would never put him in danger like that. Once again, she is stuck with no way out.

Klaus takes a step towards her and she instinctively takes a step back. She is on high alert and knows that keeping distance between her and her husband is the best thing to do right now.

"I don't believe we finished our conversation last night" Klaus says as he continues to move towards Hayley.

Hayley swallows nervously.

"There's nothing left to discuss" she says, bravely.

Klaus fakes a laugh.

"If you honestly think that we will be getting a divorce without discussing the reasons why then you are truly deluded" he says, moving closer, like a shark preying upon a school of fish.

Hayley scoffs and Klaus tilts his head, glaring at her.

"The reasons are pretty obvious don't you think, Klaus?" Hayley pauses to look at him in disgust. She then continues, "you're abusive, you're a workaholic and an alcoholic."

Klaus smirks at her, clearly amused.

"There are plenty worse off than you, Hayley, stop being so dramatic" Klaus says and her eyes widen in shock.

"How dare you!" Hayley shouts. "How dare you call me dramatic! You nearly broke my nose, how am I being dramatic?"

"I _nearly_ broke your nose, my father broke mine three times!" he shouts the final two words.

Jack comes from behind the island in the kitchen and stands behind Hayley. He growls at Klaus.

"And that means what you did to me was okay? No it does not!" Hayley shouts back.

"And what about what you did to me?!" Klaus shouts and everything goes silent.

Hayley swallows nervously again, knowing what he is referring to and knowing that she does not have a leg to stand on.

Klaus walks closer to her. He doesn't seem to have any intent to hurt her at the minute, he just seems to want a screaming match, but that can change very quickly. Hayley knows this from recent experience. Jack comes to stand in front of Hayley now, teeth baring at Klaus.

"'I will be faithful to him as long as you both shall live'... do those words mean nothing to you?" Klaus quotes their wedding vows. He sounds genuinely upset as he speaks, but Hayley looks past his sadness and sees the anger.

"You've hardly upheld your vows, Klaus. You promised to protect me from harm, but all you do is cause me harm" Hayley spits at him.

Klaus grits his teeth angrily.

"No harm would of come to either of us if you hadn't of been shagging my brother" he says.

"You started abusing me before Elijah even lay a hand on me" Hayley snaps at him.

Klaus looks up at the roof and scoffs.

"So, you are a cheating whore" Klaus says, moving towards her quickly.

Hayley panics as he gets closer, but Jack jumps forwards and barks. Klaus stops and stares down at Jack for a minute before looking back up at Hayley.

"Remember what I told you, Hayley?" Klaus asks and Hayley shakes her head.

He looks down, shakes his head and chuckles.

Klaus slowly moves closer to her, moving in for the kill. Hayley swallows as he comes to stand right in front of her. She gets ready to hit the floor any second now, but instead he raises his hand to her cheek. Jack growls and Klaus pats the dog's head gently with his other hand. He then runs his index finger down Hayley's cheek and tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Hayley feels on edge being this close to Klaus. He only comes this close when he wants something. When he wants to shout in her face, when he wants to choke her, when he wants to hit her. What does he want?

Klaus leans in, his lips close to her ear.

"I told you, your husband is the one who fucks you..." he whispers. "And I think it's time you were taught a lesson."

Hayley instantly knows what he means and her eyes widen in shock. She tries to jump away from him, to jump past him, but he grabs her by her hair before she can move. She should of never let him get that close to her, she should have stuck to the keeping distance plan.

She lets out a loud pain filled moan, but that does not stop Klaus.

Jack barks and dives at Klaus. He sinks his wolf like teeth into Klaus' arm and Klaus kicks Jack. Jack slides across the floor and hits his back on the wall. He stands up and goes in for another attack however. He jumps for Klaus' throat this time, but Klaus smacks the dog down to the floor, quick and hard.

Jack doesn't get back up.

Mortified and disgusted, Hayley scratches at Klaus' hand which is tugging on her hair and pulls away from him.

"Get off me!" She shouts, but it makes no difference.

He starts to walk towards the apartment corridor, dragging Hayley by her hair with him. She starts to consider whether she is willing to lose half of her hair to drag herself away and escape. She decides that she is not willing to do that. She loves her hair too much.

Klaus throws her onto the bedroom floor and turns to shut the door behind him. Hayley grits her teeth in pain as she hits the floor, it hurts but she quickly jumps back up. She grabs a glass off the bedside table as Klaus starts walking towards her. She waits for him to get close enough before she turns around and smacks his across the face with the glass. The glass shatters and pieces fall all over the floor.

Klaus jumps back, his face in his hands. Hayley is about to run but she sees the blood on his hands and she freezes. She wants to run, she has to run, but she can't. Klaus looks up at her, anger and hatred, the only emotions registering on his face. Hayley feels her stomach drop as she sees the little cuts on his cheek... he is going to kill her.

Not giving her another second to think, Klaus jumps forwards. His hands wrap around her neck tightly, making her gasp out loud and he throws her down on the bed. He drags her shoe off of one foot and throws it somewhere behind him. He goes for her other foot and Hayley kicks him in the stomach before he can take it off, sending him backwards.

Hayley knows this is the best chance she will get. She jumps up off the bed and runs towards the en-suite bathroom. She can't escape from there, but she can hopefully find something to defend herself with. Just as she reaches the door to the bathroom, she feels a terrible pain to her head. Klaus grabs her by her hair again and throws her towards the bed. She hits the floor hard and she thinks she can taste blood in her mouth, but she stays quiet.

Klaus grabs her by her leg, flipping her onto her back. Hayley spits blood at him and it lands on his jacket. He looks down at wear it lands and smirks at Hayley.

"I wasn't going to keep this on anyway" he says before taking his jacket off quickly.

He throws it on the floor and looks down at Hayley for a few seconds before he stomps on her ankle. Hayley cries out in pain and closes her eyes, wishing it was all just a terrible dream. Before she has time to react, Klaus forces himself on top of her and in between her legs, clasping his hand around her neck.

Hayley pushes against his chest with both hands, desperately trying to get him off her. But it doesn't effect Klaus in the slightest. He grabs both of her wrists and pins them down to the floor either side of her head. They make eye contact for a second before Hayley tries to kick him off her. This does not work either. Klaus headbutts her nose hard and she turns her face away from him as she moans in pain.

Now she can definitely taste blood.

Hayley spits blood out onto the floor and Klaus takes the opportunity to unbuckle his belt. He kisses her neck and holds her hands above her head with one hand, while his other works on getting his pants off. Hayley feels him about to pull his pants down and starts to squirm underneath him. She refuses to go down without a fight this time.

Klaus suddenly bites her neck extremely aggressively and Hayley lets out a loud cry. She knows he is doing this to try and get her to stop moving, but she doesn't stop. She tries to get away even more, scratching at his hand with her nails the best she can while kneeing him wherever she can. But just like Klaus biting her doesn't stop her, Hayley's escape attempt doesn't stop him.

Klaus gets his zip open on his pants and brings his other hand back up to Hayley's neck. He squeezes as hard as he can and Hayley coughs as she struggles for air. He stops squeezing when he is convinced that if he doesn't she will pass out. He then moves his hand down to Hayley's pants. Hayley shakes her head desperately as she pants for air. Her lungs are burning, her head is aching and her nose is stinging. She wants to fight back, but she doesn't know if she can anymore.

"Get... off" Hayley says in between breaths.

Klaus ignores her and continues to try to unbutton her jeans. He opens the button and quickly moves down to the zip. He slides it down to the bottom and then forcibly pushes his hand into her pants. He runs his hand to her hip and starts to pull her pants down.

Hayley shakes her head as tears fall from her eyes.

"Klaus, no" she says.

He ignores her.

"Get off me."

He ignores her again.

"Klaus! Get the fuck off me!" Hayley screams with the last bit of fight she has left in her.

Klaus looks down at her in disgrace and raises his hand in the air. She closes her eyes and lets her head fall to the side, she knows what is about to come her way. She can already feel the bruise it will leave on her left cheek and the pain it will leave behind. She will probably have to live off soup and Pot Noodles for the next few days.

Suddenly, Hayley feels Klaus' weight lifted up off her and she opens her eyes to see Elijah. Klaus is sat on the floor and Elijah is towering over him, tall and noble as ever. Hayley pushes herself up against the bed post and takes deep breaths, trying to regain any oxygen she lost when Klaus strangled her. She redoes her zip and her button and closes her eyes.

Elijah goes to speak, but before he can, Klaus jumps up and swings for him. Elijah blocks the hit and kicks his younger brother away from him. However, Klaus quickly jumps back and counters with his own kick, sending his foot directly into Elijah's ribs. Elijah shows no signs of pain and punches his brother right in the face.

Klaus swings for Elijah again, and once again, his shot is blocked. Elijah hits Klaus in the ribs twice and then in the face again before kicking him hard in the chest and sending him flying backwards. Klaus' back hits the wall and he ducks as Elijah swings for him again, causing Elijah to smack the wall. Klaus takes his chance and hits Elijah with a left and a right, three times in his stomach before punching him in the jaw.

Elijah stumbles back slightly but is ready for Klaus' next attack. Klaus swings and Elijah catches his fist and smacks Klaus hard in the face with his other hand. He then hits Klaus again and again before Klaus ducks and dodges the next shot. Klaus yanks his hand free and hits his brother in the nose before tackling him to the floor.

Taking advantage of his lead, Klaus sits on top of Elijah and pummels his fist into his older brother's face repeatedly. Elijah spits out blood and Klaus hesitates for a second, but it is enough time for Elijah to get the upper hand. He punches Klaus as hard as he can in his stomach and when Klaus leans down slightly from the pain, Elijah hits him, sending him flying off of him.

Elijah rolls onto his front and pushes himself back onto his feet. Klaus jumps up and instantly hits Elijah in the face, not wasting any time in trying to regain the upper hand. Elijah takes the hit and then tricks Klaus. He pretends to go to hit Klaus' face, but quickly hits him in the stomach again. And as Klaus steps back slightly, Elijah sends his foot flying through the air and into the side of his little brother's face.

Klaus doesn't stand a chance against such a powerful shot and he falls to the floor. He hits his head hard, but not hard enough to knock him out. Elijah looks down at his brother for a few seconds before he moves to stand over him. Klaus wipes the blood from his mouth on the collar of his top and then looks up at Elijah.

"You're no fucking brother of mine" Klaus says, panting heavily.

One corner of Elijah's lips lifts slightly for a second.

"That is one thing that we can agree on, Niklaus" Elijah says, also panting.

Elijah gives his brother one last look before he turns around to Hayley. She is sat up, leaning against the end of the bed, eyes still closed and looks like she is about to pass out. Whether it be from pain, or shock of what Klaus was about to do, who knows.

Elijah ignores the fact that his brother, Hayley's husband, is there and makes his way over to her. He crotches in front of her and carefully so he won't startle her, tucks a stray, bloody piece of hair behind her ear. Hayley opens her eyes and lets out a sigh of relief as she sees Elijah in front of her. She wants to smile at him, but she just can't right now. He doesn't smile either, so she assumes that he feels the exact same.

Hayley looks over to wear Klaus is lay and is glad that Elijah gave him a beating. But from what she can see, Elijah took a beating as well. Hayley slowly lifts her hand to the small line of blood running from his nose. She touches it with her thumb and then drops her hand; she doesn't have the energy to keep it raised.

"Come on" Elijah says to her, quietly.

Elijah lifts Hayley into his arms, bridal style. He then walks out of the room, not looking back at Klaus. He walks down the corridor and through the living room to the front door. He opens the front door and presses the elevator button, hoping it comes quickly. He wants to get Hayley cleaned up and see to her wounds.

He is unbelievably glad he came back. He wasn't going to. He was going to leave it because he didn't think Hayley would mind leaving her wedding ring on his bedside table. But he brought it back anyway. And he is so glad that he did. He knows what would of happened if he had not of turned up and he would never wish for any woman to go through that.

The elevator arrives and Elijah steps on with Hayley. He goes to press the down button, but Hayley shakes her head. Elijah looks down at her, giving her a questioning look.

"Jack" she whispers.

Elijah immediately looks up at the apartment door. He has to go back for the dog. He gently bends down and places Hayley in the corner of the elevator. He kisses her forehead and then gets off the elevator before walking through the half open door to the apartment.

He looks around the living room and sees no signs of Jack. He then walks to the kitchen and sees the poor dog lay on the kitchen floor, eyes closed. Elijah walks over to Jack quickly and kneels besides him. He runs a hand through the dog's beautiful, soft coat and then sighs sadly.

All he can do is take him to a vets. And that is what he will do.

Elijah puts one hand under Jack's stomach and one under his chest before he lifts him. He expects Jack to wake, or to move, or to do something, but he does not. Which only makes Elijah panic more. He knows he has to stay calm and collected for Hayley's sake, so he takes a deep breath and walks towards the door.

He walks back onto the elevator to see Hayley stood up, leaning against the wall to help her keep her sore foot off the ground. Elijah steps on and Hayley presses the button to go down before she moves closer to Elijah and Jack. She leans against Elijah as she strokes Jack's head as gentle as she can. If he doesn't survive this, Hayley will kill Klaus.

She promises herself that as the elevator reaches the ground floor.

The doors open and Elijah steps out straight away, Hayley following slightly slower because of her ankle. The receptionist they pass can't seem to look away and it doesn't surprise Hayley. A dead looking dog in the arms of a injured man, being followed by an limping woman. Little does the woman know, Elijah is not the abusive one.

They walk to Elijah's car and Hayley opens the back door for him to put Jack in the car. Elijah lies Jack down carefully and Hayley jumps in the back with him. She lifts his head and rests it on her knee as she continues to stroke him. Elijah shuts the door and goes round to the driver's side. He opens the door, takes off his blazer and gets into his car.

"Are we taking him to the vets?" Hayley asks, her voice croaky.

"Of course" Elijah replies.

Elijah throws his blazer onto the passenger seat and starts the car.

"Why did you come back?" Hayley asks, looking down at her injured baby.

"You left your wedding ring in my room. I left it in the coffee table in your apartment. I was about to leave when I heard you" he tells her, head down.

She understands what it must of been like for Elijah to see that, to see what Klaus was about to do to her. She will comfort him later. As for leaving her wedding ring, she didn't even realise she wasn't wearing it.

"Thank you, Elijah" she says, she is truly, unbelievably grateful.

"My pleasure" he replies, honestly.

Elijah did find pleasure in fighting with his brother. He found even more pleasure in watching him fall to the ground and being rendered unable to fight on. He wishes he could have fought with him for longer. In fact, he wants to go back for round two now. But there are more important things to take care of. After everything that has happened today, Elijah has made a decision. He doesn't want to help Klaus anymore.


	26. Chapter 26

Everything has changed for Hayley. She now knows the truth about her marriage and she definitely has no problem breaking it. Klaus never loved her. He would have never tried what he did today if he did love her. Hayley wants to call it an attempted rape, but it feels wrong. It feels wrong to say that her husband tried to rape her. But it is the truth... a truth that Hayley has desperately been trying to hide from since she left her apartment with Elijah.

It won't be her apartment for long though. After what Klaus did to Jack, there is no way Hayley is going back to that apartment, not when Jack's life is in danger there. It was terrible that Klaus was abusing her, but the second he put Jack's life in danger Hayley knew she was never going to go back there. She has put up with a lot from Klaus, this she will not put up with.

Elijah parks the car outside of Rebekah's house and stops the engine. Hayley watches him stare down at the steering wheel, waiting for him to speak, but he never does. He sighs and opens his car door before stepping out. Hayley bites her lip nervously as Elijah shuts the car door a little harder than usual. He probably still has quite a bit of pent up anger from his fight with Klaus.

Her door opens and she looks up to see Elijah stood there, one hand on the door handle, one hand midair for her to take. She can see blood on his knuckles and she wonders whether it is his, or her husbands. She takes his hand regardless and steps out of the car. He shuts the door behind her and she slowly makes her way to Rebekah's front door, still limping slightly.

Elijah takes his blazer out of the front of the car. He locks his car and quickly walks up behind Hayley, wrapping his blazer around her shoulders. She flinches a little as the blazer is dropped around her shoulders, as if she is scared of him. But Elijah knows she is not scared of him. He understands that she isn't herself right now and he doesn't blame her. If he had not of got there on time, then Klaus could have wounded Hayley for life. And unlike physical wounds, that wound would not have healed.

Elijah goes ahead of her and opens the front door for her. Hayley mutters 'thank you' as she limps past him and goes into the house, pulling his blazer tighter around her. Elijah follows her into the house, shutting the door behind them and the second the door clicks shut, Rebekah comes from the kitchen.

Hayley immediately feels like she needs to escape. She knows Rebekah will have questions to ask about what happened and why Hayley is back here, and Hayley isn't ready to answer her sister-in-law yet. She can feel tears trying to slip out of her eyes at the thought of telling Rebekah what happened and the last thing she wants to do right now is cry. So, she puts her head down and walks past Rebekah as quickly as she can before she goes up the stairs and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Rebekah frowns up the stairs at where Hayley just was, wondering what that was about. She then turns to look at Elijah and they make eye contact. She lets her eyes wonder over him and she can see that something bad has happened just from looking at her older brother. He has blood on his face and his knuckles, his shirt has blood on it and he doesn't look as elegant as usual.

"What happened?" Rebekah finally asks.

Elijah looks down and lets out a loud sigh. He pushes his left hand into his pant pocket and looks up at his sister.

"It's a long story" he says and goes to follow Hayley.

Rebekah grabs his arm as he tries to walk past her and he turns around to look at her. Rebekah can see the pain in his eyes, what happened at the apartment has effected him more than he is showing. Her grip on his arm softens and she rubs her thumb gently on his forearm, trying to comfort him.

"Time will heal us, Elijah... it always does."

It is true. No matter what they seem to go through, the Mikaelsons always find there way back to each other. But this time it is different. No matter how much they have been through together, Elijah knows that this will break their family for good.

Elijah shakes his head.

"Not this time, sister" he says and gently pulls away from her.

He walks up the stairs slowly, fully aware of Rebekah watching him. He knows that when his sister finds out about what Klaus attempted she will break off any ties with him. Rebekah is a feminist and Hayley is her friend. She will take what Klaus has done very personally. And he doesn't blame her, because he also takes what Klaus has done very personally. But his reason for that is very different to what Rebekah's reason will be.

Elijah knocks on the bathroom door and waits for Hayley to open it. She doesn't. She unlocks it, but she does not open it. Elijah assumes that he is allowed to enter and slips into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Hayley is sat on the edge of the bathtub with her head in her hands. She looks broken and tired. Elijah feels a strong discomfort seeing her like this. He crouches in front of her and slowly wraps his hands around her wrists, in the exact same place where there are small bruises from Klaus. He gently pulls her hands away from her face and holds both of her hands in his as he looks up at her.

Biting her lip, Hayley looks up just enough to make eye contact with Elijah. He can see the hurt in her eyes and it upsets him more deeply than he would like to admit. He pulls her left hand to his mouth while maintaining eye contact and kisses it as gently as he can. He does the same with her right hand and then raises his hand to stroke down her swollen nose. It isn't broken, but it isn't far off. Klaus certainly did a number on her.

Hayley slowly takes her free hand and lifts it to Elijah's split lip. She strokes it tenderly, running her thumb over the small slit. Hayley looks at Elijah and he looks away quickly, knowing he has been caught staring. He stands up straight and is about to speak when Hayley also stands up. There is barely even an inch between them and Elijah wants to kiss her so badly, but he knows it is too soon. He understands if she needs space.

But she surprises him and leans forwards, pressing her lips against his. He returns the kiss, being extra gentle with her. She pulls away and runs her hand down his chest before she walks behind him, opening the cabinet above the sink. She pulls out a pack of cleansing wipes and a packet of butterfly strips.

Elijah sits down on the edge of the bath and starts to undo the buttons on his shirt. Hayley turns around just in time to see him undo the last button on his shirt and reveal the black and purplish bruises on his ribs where Klaus kicked and hit him. She quickly moves towards him to get a closer look at his wounds. She comes to stand in between his legs and tucks her hair behind her ear with one hand whilst gently stroking his bruised ribs with her other hand.

As she strokes his ribs, Elijah expects to feel some kind of sharp pain, but he doesn't feel a thing. She is extra gentle with him and he can't help but fall for her that little bit more. Hayley looks at him and strokes his cheek with her free hand before she turns around and grabs the cleansing wipes.

Hayley opens the box and pulls out a cleansing wipe. She then puts the box into the sink. She comes to stand in between Elijah's legs again and puts one hand on the side of his head as she slowly wipes the slit on his lip with the wipe. It stings slightly, but Elijah shows no signs that he is in pain. She then wipes the dried up blood from around his nose before she puts the wipe into the bin to her left. She then turns around and grabs the butterfly strips.

She opens the box and pulls out a strip of the butterfly strips. She puts the box in the sink with the box of cleansing wipes and peals a strip off. She puts her hand under Elijah's chin and tilts his head upwards before she carefully places the strip over the slit on his bottom lip. She then runs her thumb over it to secure it in place and then leans down to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

Hayley holds Elijah's shirt open and looks at his ribs again.

"You'll need cream for that. Painkillers too" she tells him and he nods.

"I'll tend to it later" he says and stands up.

Elijah moves her hair from the left side of her neck to reveal a bite mark and small bits of dried up blood. Anger bubbles up inside of him upon seeing that Klaus has marked her, but he knows now is not the right time for aggression. He runs his thumb over the wound and Hayley closes her eyes as if she is ashamed of it.

Elijah leans around her and takes the box of cleansing strips out of the sink. He pulls out a wipe and then puts the box back into the sink before gently rubbing the bite mark with the wipe. Hayley holds onto the bottom of Elijah's shirt as he cleans the wound. He then throws the wipe into the bin and once again examines her neck. He can seen strangulation marks, small black bruises starting to come up on each side of her neck.

Suddenly remembering how Hayley was limping, Elijah moves around her and opens the cabinet above the sink. He pulls out a box of bandages and Hayley watches him before sitting down on the side of the bath. She slips her shoe off as Elijah also pulls a roll of tape from the top of the cabinet. He then turns back to her and drops to his knees in front of her. A part of Hayley finds the sight very amusing, but she doesn't have it in her to laugh right now.

Elijah carefully takes off her sock and touches and squeezes her foot until she flinches. He then takes the bandage out of it's box and starts to wrap it around Hayley's sore ankle.

"I had to bandage Niklaus' ankle up once when we were younger" Elijah says.

Hayley stays silent and waits for him to continue.

"We had been fighting again. He accused me of stealing his latest painting, I assumed he accused me because we had been arguing frequently. We argued again. But I quickly ended the argument and walked away from him. However, Niklaus was not done" Elijah tells her.

He finishes bandaging her ankle and grabs the tape from the floor next to him. He starts to stick pieces of tape on any looser parts of the bandage to secure it.

"He pushed me down the stairs" he says and Hayley's mouth drops open in shock.

"Seriously?" She asks, unable to believe it.

Elijah nods and Hayley shakes her head in shock.

"Oh my god, how old was he?" She asks.

Elijah lets out a deep breath and thinks for a few seconds.

"He had just turned 12" he replies and Hayley is gobsmacked.

"He pushed you down the stairs at 12? What a horrible kid!" She says and Elijah gives her a half smile.

"He was certainly troubled" Elijah says as he puts the last bit of tape on Hayley's bandage.

He admires his handy work before he looks up at her and continues the story.

"I didn't let him get away with it. I ran back upstairs and chased him into his room. I got hold of him and I wanted to kill him, and no one was there to stop me. I started to hit him, but it didn't feel like enough. I wanted to get even. So, I dragged him to the top of the stairs and threw him down" Elijah pauses. "He screamed when he reached the bottom and held onto his ankle tightly; he had sprained it. That's when I noticed father stood in the living room doorway."

Hayley swallows nervously, she knows that their father isn't a nice man.

"I expected him to beat me to death. He did no such thing. He simply went into the living room and returned with Niklaus' painting, it had a big scratch down the middle of it, it was ruined. He then pulled the knife that did the damage from behind his back and scratched the painting again before dropping it in front of Niklaus and walking away."

"Poor Klaus" Hayley says, surprising herself and Elijah.

"I felt guilty for throwing him down the stairs, so I carried him back upstairs and tended to his ankle. I apologised and so did he. After that we did not argue again until a certain woman came in between us" Elijah says, referring to Katherine.

Hayley looks down at her ankle and is impressed with how well Elijah has bandaged it. She looks up at him and watches him put the boxes back in their places inside of the cabinet. She thought she had it bad when she was a child, but she had never been told much about any of the Mikaelson's childhoods. All she had ever been told was that they all had it hard growing up, that there was plenty of fighting, there was a lot of negativity in their household and that it all usually stemmed from their father.

It seems to Hayley that out of all of the Mikaelson siblings, Elijah and Klaus have the most strained relationship. And after hearing Elijah's story, she is not surprised. There is a lot of bad history between the two brothers, some of it caused by their father, like in the story Elijah just told her. The rest was most likely caused by Klaus, like the Katherine story. But she can't be too sure that Elijah never caused any trouble between them. Hopefully, she will find out.

Hayley stands up and gently puts her heel down, careful of her new bandage.

"You're good at this" she says and Elijah turns around to see she means dressing her bandage.

"I've had plenty of practice" he says, emotionless.

He looks in the mirror on the back of the door at his ribs. There is quite a large area of black and purple, Klaus didn't go down without a fight. He runs his index finger over the bruised area, testing where it hurts the most.

"Do you think you have broken one of them?" Hayley asks, referring to his ribs.

"None are broken" Elijah tells her and Hayley frowns.

"How do you know?" She asks.

"I've broken ribs before. I know the feeling" he answers simply and opens the door.

Hayley follows Elijah out of the bathroom and wonders whether it was Klaus, or his father who broke his ribs. But she doesn't ask. She follows him into his bedroom and shuts the door behind them. He walks around to his side of the bed and opens the top drawer to pull out some cream.

Hayley limps to the bed and sits down, it's best she doesn't stay up on her ankle for too long. Elijah comes to her side of the bed and stands before her, holding the tube of cream out to her.

"Do you mind?" He asks, wanting her to rub the cream on him.

Hayley gives him the best smile she can manage with her aching face.

"No" she says and takes the tube from him.

Elijah takes his shirt off completely and drapes it onto the bed next to Hayley. She unscrews the lid off the tube and squeezes a blob of cream onto her fingers. She then puts the tube on the bed and puts one hand on Elijah's good side whilst rubbing the cream into his bad side.

Once again, he shows no signs of pain. Hayley guesses this is because he is use to pain. The stories she has heard so far suggest that he is almost immune to pain.

When she has done rubbing the cream in, she gets another blob from the tube and rubs some more in. She hopes that the more she uses, the faster his bruises will heal, but she doubts it. Still, she rubs some more in. She then puts the lid back onto the tube and gives it back to Elijah.

Elijah puts the tube of cream on the bedside table and sits down on the bed next to Hayley. He tucks her hair behind her ear and kisses her shoulder, careful not to give her the wrong idea. He is happy to just sit here and be with her, he doesn't need her to give him anything for him to be happy with her. He hopes that she knows that.

"Do you think Jack will be okay?" Hayley asks, she has been dying to ask all day, but has been too scared of the answer.

Elijah nods.

"If he is anything like you, then he will be perfectly fine" he says, stroking Hayley's cheek with the back of his index finger.

Hayley sighs and nods to herself. Jack is strong, she just hopes that he is strong enough to pull through.

Elijah lies back on the bed and looks up at the ceiling. Hayley turns to look at him and on the inside she smiles. She never thought she would have ever seen this kind of side to Elijah, he is more than just a fancy suit and a posh pair of shoes when he is with her. She runs her hand down his stomach and looks at his ribs for a few seconds before she lies down next to him, taking his arm and wrapping it around her.

She puts her head on his shoulder and holds his arm around her. She feels secure here. Elijah kisses her forehead and holds her tighter, closer.

"You'll need some ice on your nose" he says as he notices the swelling has not gone down.

Hayley looks up at him.

"I think you'll be the one needing the ice, how many hits did you take?" She asks, rhetorically.

"Not enough to break me" Elijah says and Hayley smiles a bit.

Then she plucks up the courage.

"Elijah... how did you break your ribs?"

They sit in silence for a minute and Hayley wonders whether it was wrong for her to ask. Maybe she is being insensitive. It might be something he keeps private. But eventually he answers her.

"My elder brother, Finn and I use to go to kickboxing lessons. We were both undefeated and no matter how many times we faced each other, none of us could ever beat the other. It was a brilliant rivalry. Our father did not think so. He tried to teach Finn how to beat me, but Finn refused. He said he had no interest in beating me, he was happy sharing the number one spot, as was I, until father got into my head" Elijah tells her.

He pauses and Hayley starts to draw shapes on his chest with her finger. He takes a deep breath and carries on.

"He showed me how to mix my kickboxing with a bunch of mixed martial arts combats. And I used every single one of them to defeat my brother the next time we were put into the ring together. I could see the terrible pain Finn was in, but I could also see father in the crowd, he was pleased. So, I carried on. I didn't stop until he passed out."

"Your dad talked you into doing it, Elijah, you can't take all of the blame" Hayley says.

"Father made sure I took all of the blame when we got home" Elijah tells her. "While mother took Finn to the hospital, father took me home. He dragged me into the back garden and tried to make me fight him. I was too frightened to hurt him, so I let him hit me time and time again. He didn't stop until there was a loud crack. He broke two of my ribs."

Hayley moves closer to him.

"That's horrible" she says and he nods.

"He didn't touch me for six months after that. No matter how badly behaved I was, no matter what wrong I did, he did not lay a finger on me during those six months" he tells her.

"What about Finn?" Hayley asks, curiously.

Elijah smirks.

"I offered him justice, I offered him countless free shots, he didn't take any of them. He said that what father did to me was justice enough" Elijah replies.

Hayley raises slightly and leans in for a kiss. The kiss is slow, passionate and romantic. It is short, but filled with the feelings that they share. When Hayley pulls away, she strokes Elijah's prickly chin and gives him a small smile.

"You came out pretty good considering you got a lot of shit off your dad" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles.

He shakes his head.

"I am just as messed up as the rest of them. The only difference is that I keep my demons hidden" he says and leans up, kissing her again.

Hayley happily accepts the kiss and then cuddles back up to him. It has been a long day and she is exhausted. Tomorrow, if she has the courage, she will phone the divorce lawyer. There is no way she is staying in her marriage after today. She will also phone the vets, it's time for Jack to come home.


	27. Chapter 27

Hayley yawns as she makes her way down the stairs. Last night, she stayed up almost all night talking with Elijah for the third night on the run and unlike him, she is unable to function properly without a good nights sleep. That is why she is only just now walking into Rebekah's kitchen at one o'clock, while Elijah has probably already been out and ran whatever errands he needed too.

She walks in the kitchen and everyone is there. Rebekah is stood looking out of the window with a cup of coffee in her hand. Marcel is stood next to her, washing his hands in the sink and Elijah is sat at the table. He has a cup of coffee on the table in front of him and he is reading a book. An ancient book by the looks of it.

Elijah immediately notices Hayley enter the room and looks up, giving her a small smile. Hayley smiles back at him as she takes a seat at the table two chairs away from him. He returns to his reading. Hayley watches as Marcel leans over and says something into Rebekah's ear. Rebekah nods and whispers something back before she turns around to face Hayley. Marcel flicks the water off his hands at Rebekah and she scowls at him as he leaves.

"So, I was thinking, well it was Marcel's idea really, but I'm happy to take all credit for it. Today before we go to collect Jack, how about we go to your apartment, grab some of your stuff and bring it here?" Rebekah asks Hayley.

Hayley looks at Elijah to see if he has anything to say about it. His head is still firmly in his book.

Hayley nods at Rebekah, "yeah, okay."

Rebekah downs the last of the contents in her cup and then places it into the sink.

"We would also like to invite you to stay here with us... permanently" Rebekah says and Elijah looks up at Hayley.

"Are you sure? I would hate to impose" Hayley says and Rebekah chuckles.

"Oh please, darling, there is a big difference between being invited and imposing" she says and turns around. She turns the tap on and starts to clean out her cup. " _You_ are invited, Elijah is the one who is imposing" she jokes over her shoulder.

Hayley smiles and looks at Elijah. He rolls his eyes and continues reading his book. Hayley leans forwards slightly so she can see the title of the book. The title reads 'Stages of Divorce'. Hayley frowns slightly, wondering why he is reading the book. Unless he is reading it for her benefit. She wouldn't doubt him doing that, so far he has done whatever he can to help her and has proven that he is definitely someone she can trust.

She smiles to herself and sits back in her chair. If only she had of met Elijah before she married Klaus, she would of happily have jumped ship to be with Elijah. And no matter how much she would like to sit here all day and imagine the life her and Elijah could of have, the life they still possibly could have, she has more pressing matters on her mind.

Jack.

Her poor boy has been at the vets for three days now and finally they have phoned to say he can come home. They did ring the vets the next morning after they dropped him off, but their vet had said it would be safer to leave him in for some general check ups. They promised they would have him back soon and they have upheld that promise. Today, Jack will come home.

Rebekah turns the tap off and picks up the towel Marcel used before he left. She turns around to face Hayley again and starts to dry the cup. She leans back against the counter and looks at Hayley, and then at Elijah. It is no longer a secret that they are sleeping together. They have made almost no effort to hide it whilst they have been here the past few days, sneaking in a quick kiss here and there whenever they can, stealing glances over the dinner table. The fact that they have been sharing the same bed doesn't hide their affair either, but Rebekah doesn't mind.

Fair enough, it would be appreciated if Rebekah didn't hear Hayley's moans and groans at six in the morning, but as long as they are happy, Rebekah isn't too bothered. She knows that she will get them back when her and Marcel have their next fight and she drags him upstairs for make-up sex.

Rebekah smiles evilly to herself and puts the now dry cup on the counter.

"So, what are you guys?" Rebekah asks, curiously.

Both Elijah and Hayley look at her.

"What?" Hayley asks, unsure what she means.

"Are you guys together, or just shagging, or what?" Rebekah asks, smirking.

An awkward, but humorous tension settles around Elijah and Hayley. Elijah opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He isn't sure how to answer his sister. He looks at Hayley to find her already looking at him. She has a questioning look on her face. He hopes that she will answer this question but he has a feeling it will be down to him.

Elijah runs his thumb across his bottom lip and looks at his little sister.

"Rebekah-" he starts, but she cuts him off.

"Don't give me the whole 'we don't know what we are' thing, I want the truth... and it's about time someone sat you both down and had this discuss with you consider you two can't seem to do it on your own. So, who wants to start?" Rebekah asks, looking back and forth at them.

Hayley is finding it quite amusing, but at the same time the pressure she is under is terrible. She feels like she has a giant weight pushing her down into the floor. And if she feels like this, god knows how Elijah feels. He is worse with emotions than she is, he is probably praying something will happen to get them out of this situation.

Hayley looks around the room, trying to find a way out of this. Luckily enough she finds one.

"Rebekah, we better get going if we're gonna get some stuff from mine. It's half one, we have to get Jack at three" Hayley says, looking up at the clock on the wall.

Rebekah looks at the clock and rolls her eyes; she knows Hayley's game. Elijah smirks at Hayley, also knowing what she is doing and she winks at him before she stands up, ready to go and get Jack.

"You are not getting out of this Hayley" Rebekah says, then looking to Elijah, "and neither are you."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, sister" Elijah says, innocently.

Rebekah fake laughs.

"We will have this conversation, Elijah, one way or another" she says and then walks out of the kitchen.

Hayley watches her leave and then quickly walks over to Elijah. He drops his book on the table and turns the chair slightly so when Hayley reaches him she can sit on his lap. She does and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him swiftly. He wraps one arm around her back, his hand resting just above her backside and lets the other hand cup her cheek, pulling her lips harder against his.

Hayley then pulls away and looks down at Elijah's mahogany red tie, running it through her fingers. He watches her face as she plays with his tie and the corner of his mouth pulls upwards slightly. He tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and she looks up at him, meeting his gaze. He smiles at her and she bites her lip as she smiles back. One thing that Hayley absolutely adores about Elijah is how loving he is. He struggles with saying how he feels and being open with her, but his actions speak the words and tell her the things that he can not.

"I'll see you later" Hayley whispers, giving him a quick peck on the lips before getting up off him.

"Bye" Elijah says, smiling.

Hayley walks out of the kitchen to see Rebekah picking her car keys out of her coat pocket. Hayley bites her lip awkwardly, she knows Rebekah will question her the second she gets in the car and she is trying to prepare herself for it.

Rebekah opens the door for Hayley and she walks out. Rebekah shuts the door behind her and follows Hayley down the garden path to her car in front of the house. She unlocks it and Hayley jumps in the passenger side, strapping herself in while she waits for her sister-in-law to get in. A car passes and then Rebekah climbs into the Audi A4.

"Are you going to answer my question now?" Rebekah asks as she buckles in.

Hayley smiles as she looks out of the window.

"Well, ask it and we'll see" she says, amused.

"What are you and Elijah?" Rebekah asks, starting the car.

Hayley sighs, it isn't the easiest of questions.

"Well, I definitely like him and so far I have no reason to think he doesn't like me. I'm not sure what we are though. I would love to be in a relationship with him, but I want to be divorced before I call him my boyfriend and put labels on it" Hayley explains.

Rebekah pulls out into the road and starts to drive towards Hayley's apartment.

"Just call him your boyfriend now, Marcel recently had three stripper girlfriends and he is supposed to be engaged to me" Rebekah says, jokingly despite how much Marcel hurt her.

"How is everything going with him at the minute?" Hayley asks.

"Decent. We haven't argued for awhile and he is trying to behave, but I know he is tempted to go after others again" Rebekah says, trying to sound emotionless.

Hayley puts her hand on Rebekah's shoulder for a few seconds.

"I hate to be the one to say this, Rebekah, especially with how kind Marcel has been to me recently, but you can't let him play you forever" she says and Rebekah nods.

"We'll deal with that if he cheats again" Rebekah says, not wanting to get into this discussion right now.

She then realises what Hayley has done and opens her mouth in shock.

"Back on to the subject of you and my brother. Why don't you just be his girlfriend now?" Rebekah asks.

"I don't know if Elijah will want to be my boyfriend while I'm married... it sounds weird" Hayley admits.

"What? Being married whilst having a boyfriend?" The blonde asks.

"Yeah, it's weird. Besides, like I said, Elijah probably won't like the idea" Hayley says, looking down at her hands in her lap.

Rebekah chuckles.

"Hayley, my brother is strictly against cheating of all kinds and yet he is bedding you every night. You must be something very special if you can dent Elijah's nobility" Rebekah says honestly.

Hayley smiles. She hopes she is special to Elijah.

Rebekah pulls up outside of the apartment building and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She unlocks her phone and opens up Snapchat. She opens up her Snap Map and types in Klaus' name. It shows him down town at his office. Satisfied with what her phone has told her, Rebekah locks it and puts it back in her pocket.

"The house is clear, Klaus is at work" she says and then leaves her car.

Hayley opens the passenger door and climbs out of the car. She shuts the door and meets Rebekah to walk down the path leading to the apartment building. Rebekah locks her car and then pushes her hands into her jacket pockets.

Hayley smiles at the woman on reception as they walk to the elevator. She is glad that it isn't the same woman who saw her leave with Elijah and Jack, that would have been awkward. Rebekah presses the button for the elevator and it opens straight away. They step on to it and Hayley presses to go up to her floor.

The doors open up and Hayley steps off first. She turns back to see Rebekah pulling her key to the apartment from her pocket. She hands the key to Hayley and she unlocks the door before opening it wide. It looks surprisingly clean considering Hayley has left an alcoholic in here alone with plenty of alcohol for three days. Rebekah steps inside straight away and goes to check the mail. Hayley walks into her apartment slowly, the memories of her terrible few weeks in this apartment starting to flash before her.

Rebekah throws the mail back onto the coffee table, there is nothing there for Hayley. She looks over at Hayley stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed across her chest, she is unsure of what to do with herself. Rebekah walks around the couch and puts her hand on Hayley's back as she passes her to go to the bedroom. Hayley sighs and takes one last look around the living room and kitchen before she follows Rebekah.

"Where do you keep the suitcases, Hayley?" Rebekah asks as she enters what is now Klaus' bedroom.

"Should be in the guest room" Hayley says and goes to her wardrobe.

Rebekah leaves the room.

Hayley opens the wardrobe and pulls out seven tops on their hangers. She throws them down onto the bed and then goes back to the wardrobe to pull out five more tops. She throws them on top of the other tops and then pulls out three pairs of jeans. She also throws them onto the bed before chucking two dresses onto the bed. She then shuts the wardrobe.

Rebekah comes back with a navy blue suitcase trailing behind her. She lies it down next to the bed and unzips it before she starts to put Hayley's clothes inside of it. Hayley opens her drawer and pulls out every bra and pair of knickers and socks she has, gathering them all in her arms before she drops them in the suitcase. She has never been so happy to see her own clean clothes in her life after living in borrowed clothes from Rebekah for the past few days.

"Anything else?" Rebekah asks, looking around the room.

Hayley also looks around the room, hands on hips, trying to think of anything she might of missed. Suddenly, her trainers which are sat by the en-suite bathroom door catch her eye.

"Shoes" she says and walks to them.

Hayley picks up her trainers and puts them into the suitcase. She then walks back to the bed and drops to her knees. She reaches under the bed and pulls out two pairs of high heels, another pair of trainers and a pair of boots. She stands up and walks to the suitcase, dropping the shoes into it. She then looks around one last time and nods. She has everything.

Rebekah zips up the suitcase, struggling a bit with the last bit and stands it up with her as she stands up. She looks around as well to see if there is anything her friend might have forgotten.

"We good?" Rebekah asks and Hayley nods.

"I'm going to get some of Jack's stuff" Hayley says as they leave the room.

They walk down the short corridor and into the kitchen. Hayley walks around the island and opens one of the cupboards, pulling out a plastic bag. She shuts the cupboard and then opens the one next to it. She pulls out two bags of treats and an unopened box of tinned dog food. She puts them in to the plastic bag and then also pulls out two tennis balls and a ripped up teddy bear. She puts the bag on the island and then bends back down to lift out the large bag of kibble.

Hayley puts the kibble onto the island next to the plastic bag and then shuts the cupboard door. If she is moving out for good then she needs to take everything she can for Jack. She wants him to feel comfortable at Rebekah's house, especially with him not being vet well after Klaus' attack.

Hayley picks up the plastic bag and holds it out to Rebekah. The blonde takes the bag in her free hand. Hayley picks up the bag of kibble from the side and walks over to Rebekah.

"Let's get out of here" Rebekah says and starts to walk towards the door.

Hayley nods and follows her. As she walks out of the apartment she notices the four empty bottles of scotch next to the door and her heart skips a beat. She never wants to get drunk again thanks to her alcoholic husband.

Rebekah presses for the elevator and they stand there silently waiting. Hayley suddenly remembers she hasn't brought any of her jackets or any coats. She puts the kibble down and runs back into the apartment. She runs into her room and takes her two favourite jackets off of the back of the bedroom door before running back into the living room and taking her Winter jacket off of the back of that door.

She looks at the coffee table and sees her wedding ring sat on the corner of it. She lies the coats over the arm of the couch and walks towards it. She picks it up and examines it. She hates this small piece of metal and if she had a fireplace, she would turn it on and watch it burn.

"Elevator's here, Hayley" Rebekah calls.

Hayley sighs and puts the ring back on the coffee table. She won't be wearing that again. She picks up the coats and walks back out of the apartment to Rebekah, shutting the door behind her. She lies the coats on top of the suitcase and picks up the bag of kibble again. The women then step onto the elevator together and Rebekah presses the ground floor button. The doors shut and they both look up, watching the numbers count down to zero.

The doors open and Rebekah leads the way out. Hayley follows slightly slower with the weight of the kibble holding her back. They walk outside and Rebekah stops to reach into her pocket to get her keys. She unlocks the car and opens the boot. She takes Hayley's coats off the suitcase and throws them into the back of the car so they are on the back seat. Rebekah then throws Hayley's suitcase into the boot. She also puts the plastic bag in the boot, tucking it in next to the suitcase.

Hayley finally catches up and squeezes the bag of kibble in next to the other side of the suitcase. Rebekah then shuts the boot and walks around to the drivers side, while Hayley walks around to the passengers side. They climb into the car at the same time and Hayley lets out a loud sigh.

"I'm glad I never have to come here again" she admits, looking at the apartment building.

"I'm not surprised, that place is filled with nothing but drama" Rebekah says as she puts her seat belt on.

Hayley puts her seat belt on and Rebekah starts the car before she pulls out into the road.

"I bet you can't wait to see Jack" Rebekah says.

Hayley smiles as she looks out of the window.

"I bet he can't wait to see us, he hates the vets" Hayley says, remembering the last time when she had to pick him up and carry him in. And it wasn't easy with him being such a big dog.

"What exactly happened for him to get hurt?" Rebekah asks, checking her rear view mirror.

Hayley sighs.

"Klaus was approaching me, he was going to hurt me and Jack jumped in the way. Jack bit Klaus so Klaus kicked him. Jack hit his head and he got knocked out I think" Hayley explains, staring out of the window, not wanting to catch Rebekah's gaze.

"Jesus Christ! He bit him? Good boy, Jack. He will definitely be getting spoilt rotten at my house" Rebekah says, smirking.

"Things would have been a lot worse if Elijah didn't get there when he did" Hayley says, still not looking over at Rebekah.

Rebekah isn't quite sure what to say, but something is better than nothing right now.

"I knew they would end up fighting again, they always do. Even as grown men they love a scrap. They went through this phase once where they though they were UFC fighters, or something, and everyday they would go into the backyard and beat the shit out of each other. They drove mother wild" Rebekah tells Hayley.

"I didn't think Elijah was the type to fight when I first met him" Hayley says and Rebekah chuckles.

"You wouldn't think it because of the suits, but one of Elijah's favourite things to do as a child was fight. He use to go to fighting clubs and lessons and stuff like that with Finn and Klaus all of the time" Rebekah says, amusement in her voice.

"He told me about the fighting with Finn" Hayley tells her sister-in-law.

"That's nothing compared to when he use to do the street fighting," Hayley's eyes widen in shock.

"Street fighting?" She asks.

"Every Friday for a year after he split with Katherine" Rebekah says as she turns into the vets. "He would leave at nine at night and come home at about two in the morning, with bloodied knuckles and a few bruises."

Hayley was shocked. She never expected that kind of thing of Elijah.

"After he broke up with Katherine he was angry and hurt, and he couldn't take that anger out on Klaus forever, not with the beatings getting worse and worse. So, he started the street fighting and he was good, he barely ever got himself hurt. Then he left school, finished the fighting and went travelling as you already know."

"Did he get money from the fighting?" Hayley asks.

"Yes, that's what he went travelling with. He hates talking about his teen years because he knows he didn't make the best choices back then. Just think, he could have been like Klaus if he didn't stop the fighting" Rebekah says and pulls into a parking place.

"Now that I couldn't deal with" Hayley says and Rebekah chuckles.

She turns the car engine off and pulls the keys out. She then turns to Hayley and smiles.

"Let's go and get this pooch then" she says and Hayley smiles.

They climb out of the car and Rebekah locks the car as they walk to the main doors of the vets. They can hear dogs barking as soon as they walk in and it upsets Hayley to think of so many poorly, injured dogs, but she tries to just focus on Jack. They walk up to the receptionist and she gives them a great, big smile.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She asks, looking back and forth at Rebekah and Hayley.

"I'm Hayley, I'm here to pick up Jack Mikaelson, Husky" Hayley tells her.

The woman turns to the computer next to her and clicks onto an animal search page. She types in 'Jack Mikaelson' and clicks on the right Jack before pulling up his file. She scans through it and then looks up at Hayley again.

"I'll let them know you are here, feel free to take a seat" she says and gives them another big smile.

Hayley smiles back at her and turns to go and sit by the door. Rebekah follows her, muttering something about how the woman is far too happy to be working somewhere where sick animals come to get healed. Hayley smiles and rolls her eyes as she sits down, Rebekah can always find something to complain about, no matter where she is, or what is happening.

Rebekah sits down next to Hayley and crosses her one leg over the other. She has a very natural bitch posture and Hayley loves it. It is honestly one of her favourite things about Rebekah. She looks like a hardcore bitch even when she is in a good mood.

A loud buzzer sounds out and a door down the corridor to left opens. They here the sound of claws scraping on the floor and Hayley smiles, she knows that Jack is about to round the corner. And he does. He comes round the corner dragging the vet as hard as he can, desperate to get away from this place. The second he sees Hayley he barks loudly and yanks the lead hard enough that the vet drops it and Jack charges to Hayley.

Hayley stands up quickly and Jack jumps up at her. Hayley laughs and crouches on the floor to be closer to him. He licks her face, rubs his head all over her and nuzzles her. Hayley finally grabs his collar and holds him one place, careful not to hurt him as she strokes him. She tickles him behind his ear and he leans into her hand, he loves that.

"It's good to have you back" Hayley whispers to Jack. She puts her forehead on his and then kisses his head before pulling him into a hug. Rebekah looks down at them and smiles. She isn't a big fan of animals, she never has been, but this is one animal she absolutely adores.


	28. Chapter 28

Klaus sits in one of the booths at one of the local bars. There is a mass of people outside as per usual and they are all celebrating yet another wedding. Half of the people out there have no idea who the bride and groom are, they have just come to party. It would anger him if that many strangers turned up to celebrate his wedding with him. It angered him enough that his distant family who he had never heard of before in his life turned up to see him get married.

He has considered going outside, finding the bride and groom and telling them that they have just made the worst mistake of their lives. In his twenty-six years alive, Klaus has never seen a happy marriage. His mother and father loved each other, they still do, there is no doubt there, but his father still use hit her, he still shouts at her and neglects her. They were doomed right from the beginning, but because they loved each other the tried to make it work, they are still trying now. They still can't seem to manage it.

The one friend of Klaus' that is married is called Lucian. He has a beautiful wife, one that Klaus has sampled himself and he knows that she is a very naughty girl. He slept with Aurora on her twenty-sixth birthday, exactly a week before he met Hayley. He did want to reach out to her and try and make a go of things, but when he looked for her on Facebook, he saw she was married. And she had been for three years. So, Klaus let it slide.

He found it incredibly awkward when he started working with Lucian a year later. However, they soon became very good friends and would often talk about Hayley and Aurora. Klaus would complain about Hayley's job, about how he hated her working at night time because she would sleep all day and then he would never get to see her. Lucian would complain about Aurora's constant partying with her slutty friend, Gia, and how she was becoming more like Gia by the day.

Klaus wanted to tell Lucian that his wife was a cheat, but he never would. If he told Lucian about Aurora, then that would also mean telling Lucian about himself. He had no intentions to tell Lucian he had a failure of a marriage, so instead he went home and told Hayley he hated her having a job. A few days later she quit. She said she had her own reasons for it, but he knew it was because he wanted her to.

Lucian is now currently working through his divorce. It's taken them almost four months to get started on the divorce and things are about to be put on hold again. Aurora is pregnant. Klaus found out today when Lucian came up from his floor to talk to Klaus about a new production. She is six months in.

Klaus' only advise was that he shouldn't stay with her for the baby.

Klaus sighs and downs what is left of the bourbon in his glass. He twirls the glass through his fingers slowly, staring at the glass. Hayley has been gone for almost two weeks now. He has enjoyed the space, but he has hated having her gone. He knows exactly where she is and what she is doing... or should we say who she is doing.

The bar door suddenly swings open and in walks a hooded figure. Klaus frowns as he looks the man up and down. He is wearing black fitted jeans, a very fancy pair of black Alexander McQueens and a zipped up leather jacket with the hood up. The man unzips his jacket and slowly pulls down the hood as he turns to face Klaus.

It's Kol. A smile instantly appears on Klaus' face and he stands up from his booth, quickly as Kol walks over to him. They haven't seen each other for months and even though none of them will admit it, they always miss each other.

Klaus opens his arms and Kol walks straight into them.

"Brother, it's been too long" Kol says next to Klaus' ear.

Klaus pats Kol on the back and pulls away to get a good look at his little brother.

"It feels like it's been bloody ages" Klaus says, smiling.

"Certainly does" Kol says, putting his hand on Klaus's shoulder.

"Come, sit down. I'll buy you a drink. What do you want?" Klaus says.

Kol sits at the back of the booth.

"I'll have a small Bruichladdich Quadrupled Whiskey" Kol answers.

Klaus seems amused.

"That's a mouthful, which magazine did you read about that one in?" Klaus asks, smirking.

"A very good one" Kol answers, also smirking.

"Are you sure you only want a small? The Kol I know only buys alcohol if it's served in a large glass" Klaus comments.

Kol chuckles.

"A large of this stuff would knock a man out. I'll stick to my small" Kol tells Klaus.

Klaus holds his hands up and nods. He then turns around and walks to the bar. He leans his elbows on the bar as he waits for the bartender to come to him.

The bartender finishes serving the two young, beautiful blondes at the other end of the bar and comes to Klaus. Klaus catches one of the girls eyes and he winks at her. He sees her blush slightly before he quickly turns to look at the bartender.

"A Bruichladdich Quadrupled Whiskey. Small, please" Klaus says, pulling a fifty dollar note from his pocket.

The bartender looks at the drinks behind him, looking from right to left. He does not find the drink. He checks again before turning back around to Klaus.

"Sorry, we don't have that" he says.

Klaus turns back to Kol to see him on his phone. He shrugs and turns back to the bartender.

"Just a Jack Daniels then, large. And another bourbon, please" Klaus says.

The man nods and quickly gets to work on the drinks. A few seconds later he puts the drinks down in front of Klaus and takes the fifty from him before going to the till. He then returns with Klaus' change. Klaus takes the change and makes his way back to Kol in the booth.

Klaus sits next to Kol at the back of the booth and places the Jack Daniels down in front of him. Kol puts his phone away and looks at the drink in front of him. He knows it is not what he ordered. He isn't too bothered though as long as he is having something alcoholic.

"They didn't have it I assume?" Kol asks as he picks up his drink.

Klaus takes a sip from his glass and puts it down on the table.

"I doubt he even knew what it was" Klaus says, smirking.

"He probably didn't, not many do" Kol says.

"Sounds like fancy stuff" Klaus comments, speaking about the Whiskey.

Kol takes a sip of his drink.

"Well, at almost $350 per bottle I would say it is quite fancy" Kol says, smiling.

Klaus laughs.

"You'll have to buy me a bottle so I can see whether it is actually worth it's price" Klaus says.

"Piss off" Kol says, taking another sip of his drink.

They both laugh.

Kol has always been one to spend his money on the most extravagant things. And a bottle of Whiskey priced at $350 definitely comes under that profile. The shoes on his feet alone are worth $360 and are probably his twentieth pair of shoes this year. While Klaus' shoes cost $90 and have lasted him almost two years.

"How's everything been then, brother?" Kol asks, putting his drink down.

Klaus sighs.

"Absolutely shit" Klaus says and Kol chuckles.

"Arguing with Hayley again?" Kol asks.

"Something along those lines" Klaus says.

He doesn't want to tell Kol everything that has been happening. He doesn't need to get involved in all of the drama.

"She has been cheating on me" Klaus tells his brother.

Kol looks genuinely shocked.

"I did not see that coming. I thought if anyone was going to cheat it would be you" Kol admits.

"So did I" Klaus admits. "She's moved in with Rebekah now."

"Rebekah's siding with that bitch after she cheated on you? She can never seem to get her priorities right can she?" Kol asks, rhetorically.

"Well, she would side with Hayley when the man she is sleeping with is Elijah" Klaus says and quickly downs his drink.

Kol's mouth flies open in shock.

"Oh my fucking god" Kol says.

Klaus nods.

"I didn't expect it either" he says.

"I would have thought better of Elijah" Kol says, bringing his drink to his mouth.

Klaus shrugs.

"Well, he isn't exactly innocent is he. He has done just as much wrong in his life as we have" Klaus says, digging his index finger into the table.

"Damn right he isn't innocent" Kol says, taking a large mouthful from his glass.

"He does all of this terrible stuff and gets rewarded. I do terrible stuff and I get disowned and cast aside" Klaus says, waving towards the bartender, signalling for two more.

"I will never cast you aside, Nik. No matter what those other bastards do, I will stick by you" Kol says, putting his hand on Klaus' shoulders.

"Rebekah said I'm becoming father" Klaus tells Kol.

Kol laughs.

"And that upset you? You know what Bekah is like, Nik, she'll say anything to upset you" Kol says.

Klaus nods.

"Tell me more about this Hayley thing anyway. Have you had it out with her?" Kol asks, downing the last of is drink.

"We tried to talk about a few problems. We ended up arguing again" Klaus says.

"To say she hates arguments she argues with you enough" Kol says.

"My thoughts exactly" Klaus replies. "I hit her after I found out about her and Elijah."

"Not surprised" Kol says.

Klaus would of expected Kol to have more to say, but he is glad he does not. The bartender comes over to them and places a Jack Daniels in front of Kol, and a bourbon in front of Klaus. He then walks back to the bar.

"I hit her a few times" Klaus admits.

Kol shrugs.

"She shouldn't have cheated" the younger brother says.

"She's still doing it now" Klaus says, before taking a sip of his drink.

"She's still cheating on you?" Kol asks as he picks up his new drink.

Klaus nods, "Elijah is staying at Rebekah's too. If they didn't shag before, they definitely have now."

Kol shakes his head.

"What the hell are you doing here then?" Kol asks.

Klaus takes a sip from his drink and frowns at his brother.

"Go and get her back. Drag her out of there, take her home and show her who is in charge. You are the man in the relationship and she shouldn't be trying to push you around" Kol says.

"You're right" Klaus says.

"Of course I'm right! I always am" Kol says. Taking a sip of his drink before he carries on. "You are a Mikaelson. You know what that means? That means that there isn't one person in the world who is allowed to disrespect you, or push you around. Especially not your wife. So, you go to Rebekah's house and you get your bitch back. Remind her that she became your property when she signed that dotted line and she is still yours now, whether she likes it or not."

Klaus nods, believing every word that Kol says.

"I'm going to do it" Klaus says, nodding.

"You're going to go and get her?" Kol asks and his brother nods.

"I'm going to go and get her. She is my wife" Klaus says.

Kol pats Klaus on the back hard and moves his mouth close to his ear.

"You get Hayley. I'll handle Elijah" Kol whispers.

Klaus pulls away and smirks evilly at Kol.

"Get him good" Klaus says, quietly.

Kol nods and smiles, a sense of cruelty hiding behind his eyes.

Klaus downs the last of his drink and pulls his apartment keys out of his pocket. He puts the keys on the table and pushes them in front of Kol. Kol picks the keys up and looks at Klaus.

"Go back to mine and get some drinks ready. I'll be back soon" Klaus tells him.

Klaus stands up and heads for the door. Kol pockets the keys and smiles as he lifts his drink to his lips.

"Have fun" Kol calls to his brother as he leaves.

Klaus jumps into his car, knowing he is over the limit. He starts the engine and pulls out into the main road quickly. He instantly starts speeding. He wants to get there fast and he wants to drag Hayley outside and hurt her. Luckily enough for Klaus, he isn't drunk enough yet to have forgotten where Rebekah's house is.

He goes past a speed camera at 65 and gets flashed. He knows that means he will get a fine but he carries on speeding anyway, running two red lights. He is stopped by a line of cars waiting to turn right. He gets extremely annoyed by this and goes onto the wrong side of the road so he can get around them.

Dangerously, Klaus swerves around the cars coming at him. Every car beeps at him as they screech to a halt, or drive around him as fast as they can and every beep adds fuel to the fire that is Klaus' rage. He is tempted to ram himself into the next person who beeps, but he doesn't want to wreck his white Mercedes (C-class). It took him six years of saving for this car and he hasn't had a new one, or had a problem with it since. He wants to keep it that way.

Klaus pulls back onto the right side of the road and cuts another light. He puts his foot right down and skids around the corner. He is almost there now and he can feel his anger just about to bubble over. Just one more corner and he will be on Rebekah's street and then he just has to go down to the ninth house and he will get his wife back.

Klaus skids around the second corner and zooms down the peaceful street that Rebekah lives on. He slams the breaks on when he sees Rebekah's house and stops right outside. He can see Rebekah's Audi, but he cannot see Elijah's Jag. He assumes Elijah is out and pulls into the space in front of Rebekah's car.

The clock has just struck eleven so they should all be home.

Swaying slightly, Klaus steps out of his Mercedes and slams the door shut. He forgets to lock it and walks around the bonnet of the car onto the path. He walks up the path to Rebekah's front door slowly, looking at her pretty little garden. He hasn't been here for a very long time, it has been well over a year. The last time he was here Rebekah's garden didn't have this many flowers, just a few near the front of the garden.

She has done well. But he will never tell her that.

Klaus reaches the door and bangs on it as hard as he can, hurting his knuckles a bit. He spits onto the porch as he waits, the longer he is waiting the more annoyed he is getting. He hears a noise behind the door and sees a shadow, someone is here.

Rebekah opens the door and instantly frowns.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing here?" Rebekah asks aggressively.

Klaus ignores her.

"Where is she?" He asks, swaying slightly.

"Not here, you shouldn't be either, so get gone" she replies, arms folded across her chest.

Klaus steadies himself and clears his throat.

"Where is Hayley?" He repeats.

Rebekah's frown deepens.

"She's out. Now get off my door step" Rebekah raises her voice, clearly getting angrier.

Klaus takes a step closer to Rebekah.

"I'm not leaving without her" he says, clenching his teeth.

"Yes you bloody well are, you wanker" Rebekah says.

She goes to shut the door, but Klaus sticks his foot in the gap just in time. He pushes the door open and is about to grab Rebekah by the arm when Marcel comes in from the games room. He runs over and shoves Klaus out of the doorway. Klaus goes flying backwards and lands on his backside on the porch.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Marcel shouts, looking down at Klaus.

Klaus stares up at him in rage.

"You think there won't be consequences if you continue to keep her from me? You are far from right" Klaus says.

He stands up and steadies himself again.

"She is my wife and I will not leave her here to be fucked by her brother-in-law. You know what she is doing is illegal in some states?" Klaus says, smugly.

"And so is what you did to her alright. So, give it a rest, go home and leave her alone" Marcel says and Rebekah nods in agreement.

"I'm not leaving without my wife" Klaus says again.

"Klaus, she doesn't want you, she is done with you. There is nothing left to save, she said so herself" Rebekah tells him.

"Marcel has said that to me before about you and yet you are still here, together" Klaus says, smirking evilly.

Marcel goes to say something to Rebekah, but she beats him to it.

"Not now, Marcel" she says, then turning back to Klaus. "You need to leave now before I call the police."

Klaus chuckles, swaying again.

"I told you, Rebekah, I'm not going anywhere. You can call whoever you want, no amount of men could make me move" he says, still smirking.

Marcel clenches his fist and steps forwards.

"I'll make you move in a minute if you don't get of my door step" he says, angrily.

"Did you just threaten me?" Klaus says through a laugh.

Marcel remains quiet. Klaus suddenly steps right into Marcel's face, swaying as he looks all over Marcel's face before finally making eye contact. Rebekah reaches out and lightly presses her fingers onto Marcel's arm, getting ready to pull him away.

They stare into each others eyes for what seems like forever. Marcel can see just how badly Klaus wants to hurt Hayley and he can see how annoyed he is that she isn't here. He can also see a flake of sadness right in the back of his eyes. Klaus can read the anger and worry in Marcel's eyes and he intends to knock that right out of him.

Giving no time to react, Klaus quickly lifts his fist and punches Marcel right in the nose. He sends Marcel a few steps backwards and watches as he holds his bleeding nose. Rebekah grabs Marcel, desperately trying to look at his nose, but Marcel won't let her. He turns away from her and Rebekah turns to Klaus.

Rebekah slaps Klaus right across his face. The pain that strikes across his face makes him raise his fist into the air and he is about to send it into Rebekah's face, but he stops. He doesn't know why, but he stops. Rebekah stares at him, mouth open, eyes wide and tears about to fall. He can see the fear and the hurt on her face and he knows he will probably regret this later.

"Get the fuck away from here" Rebekah says, sounding calm but sad.

Klaus' eyes dart away from her, desperate not to make eye contact with her right now. He slowly drops his fist and takes a step back.

"I'm not leaving without Hayley" he repeats, looking down at the floor.

A tear runs down Rebekah's face and she quickly wipes it.

"You go now, Klaus" She says, holding her ground.

Klaus goes to say something, but Marcel jumps from behind Rebekah. He pushes Klaus as hard as he can and watches as he falls down the two steps leading up to their pouch, landing flat on his back. Klaus makes a groaning sound as he lands. He makes another groaning sound when he tries to move; the landing hurt him badly.

Klaus slowly sits up and Marcel takes two steps forwards, stopping just before the steps on the pouch. He points down at Klaus.

"You get out of here and never come back" Marcel says and then turns around to go inside.

Marcel is raging now and he has blood dripping from his nose. He mutters 'stupid fuckin dick' about Klaus as he walks past Rebekah and makes his way for the kitchen. Rebekah leans against the door and looks down at Klaus. He looks back up at her, still not finding it in him yet to move.

She has nothing left to say. She shuts the door on him and locks up for the night.

Klaus rubs his face roughly with his hand. He then stands up and sways as he walks back down Rebekah's garden path. He walks around the front of his car, trying to ignore the pain in his back. He then swings his car door open and slides in, slamming the door shut behind him.

He looks into the rear-view mirror at himself and frowns before he looks away. He should of known that coming here was a bad idea. He should of known better than to trust Kol's idea. But he came anyway and he hurt his family once again. He got himself hurt as well, again. He throws his head onto the steering wheel and sighs.

Klaus sits up straight and starts his car engine. He isn't going to sit and wait for Hayley, he will get her when she least expects it instead. And with Kol back, it will be easier than ever to get her back. He isn't going to sit here wallowing in self-pity either. He has his brother waiting for him at home and he has no doubt that Kol will be able to bring his mood right back up, just like he usually does.

After a quiet and short 15 minute drive, Klaus arrives home. He parks in front of the apartment building and climbs out of his car. He slams the door shut behind him and locks it as he walks towards the building. He walks through the doors and sees no one is on reception.

He hits the button for the elevator to come to the ground floor and closes his eyes as he waits for it. He really wants to stop swaying, but he can't. Every time he steadies himself it starts again. The doors open and there is a teenager on the elevator. He smiles at Klaus as he passes him, he doesn't get a smile back. Klaus steps onto the elevator and presses to go up to his floor. He is in a vile mood, there was no way that boy was going to get a smile out of him.

The elevator opens and Klaus walks straight off it. He can hear loud music and he frowns because it is coming from his apartment. He opens the door and sees Kol dancing topless with three beautiful, young, hot females. Klaus raises an eyebrow and steps inside, shutting the door behind him. This is something he doesn't want to share with the rest of the world.

Kol brings a bottle of scotch up to his lips and takes a large sip. He then looks over at Klaus and smiles.

"Where is she?" He asks his older brother.

"She wasn't in" Klaus says, throwing his jacket onto the arm of the couch.

"Ah well, one of these fine ladies could easily replace her" Kol says as one of the girls rubs her backside against his groin.

Klaus smirks at Kol and picks up a new bottle of scotch off the coffee table.

Kol pushes the girls forwards and comes to stand next to them, presenting them to him.

"Take your pick" Kol says.

Klaus takes the top off the scotch bottle and throws it on the floor. He makes his way towards the girls as he takes his first sip from the bottle. He enjoys the burning feeling in his throat and appreciates the numbness the alcohol brings; after three sips he can no longer feel the pain in his back.

Klaus approaches the blonde who is in a tight, short, black dress. When he is stood directly in front of her he tilts her chin upwards, admiring her slim, pale neck. He wants to kiss it. He strokes his index finger down her neck and down her chest, in between her breasts and then down her flat stomach. He stops when his finger reaches her pelvis and raises an eyebrow at her as he smirks. She bites her lip and smirks back at him.

"What's you name, love?" Klaus asks, charmingly.

The girl smiles.

"Caroline" she answers.

Klaus smiles and looks down at her body. He wants to rip the dress off her.

He meets her gaze again.

"Well, Caroline... I think you should come with me."


	29. Chapter 29

Hayley laughs as she opens the door to Rebekah's house. Elijah was just telling her about Rebekah's obsession for blonde boys in high school and how she once jumped in a pond for one. She turns around and watches him come inside, shutting the door behind him quietly in case anyone is in bed. However, the living room light shining from under the door tells him that no one is in bed just yet.

Without saying a word, Elijah walks to the door. He doesn't bother knocking on the living room door either, he just enters. He pushes the door open to see Marcel sat on the couch with a bloody tissue hanging from his nose, and Rebekah stood near the window with her phone to her ear. They both look at him as Hayley comes to stand next to him in the doorway.

"What happened?" Hayley asks, looking at Marcel.

"Klaus came here looking for you" Marcel says, nodding to Hayley.

Elijah looks at Rebekah and she shakes her head in anger.

"Who are you phoning?" Elijah asks his sister.

Rebekah folds her arm across her chest.

"Mother and father. See how he likes it when father flies out to pay him a visit" Rebekah says.

Elijah furrows his eyebrows slightly. He doesn't think it is a good idea to involve their parents, but things have definitely gone to far now. He lets Rebekah continue to try and get though to their parents while he sits down on the couch next to Marcel.

"Why was Klaus looking for me?" Hayley asks Marcel.

He shrugs.

"No idea. He just kept saying he isn't leaving without you."

Hayley sees a glimmer of anger in Elijah's eyes.

"Talk us though what happened" Elijah says.

Marcel takes a deep breath.

"Klaus knocked on and Rebekah went to the door. She told him to get lost, but he said he wasn't leaving without Hayley. He said threatened us and kept saying he wasn't going to leave. I told him I'd force him out if he didn't go and then he hit me. Rebekah slapped him and he was going to hit her." Elijah's face fills with rage. "She told him to go, he still didn't so I pushed him down the path and told him to never come back. He left then" Marcel finishes.

"Did he touch her?" Elijah asks, referring to Rebekah.

"No, he stopped right before he hit her" Marcel says. "I think he realised what he was doing and came to his senses."

Elijah stands up and moves to the small table next to the bookcase in the corner of the room. It has a decanter filled with scotch and three glasses on it. He picks a glass, picks it up and then pours some scotch into the glass. He downs the first glass full and pours another before he turns back around.

"Did he say why he came for Hayley?" Elijah asks, one hand on his hip, the other holding his glass.

"No. He just said she is his wife and he won't leave without her, that's literally all he said" Marcel tells him.

Elijah goes to speak again, but Hayley speaks first.

"I'm not his wife."

The men look at her and Rebekah also turns her head to look at her. Hayley is leaning against the door frame and has her arms folded across her chest as she is looking down at the floor. After a few seconds of silence, Hayley looks up at Elijah.

"I'm not his wife. It might say I am on paper, but I'm nothing to him" she says.

Elijah remains still for a moment, taking in what she has said. He nods his head and then takes a sip of his drink.

"Try telling him that" Marcel says.

"Surely he understands that me moving out of the apartment was also me moving out of his life" Hayley says.

"Maybe he wants you back" Marcel says, adjusting the tissue that is up his nose.

"It's too late" Hayley says, shaking her head. "After everything he has done and everything he has put us all through, I am done with him. I don't want him to play any part in my life at all."

"I can agree to that" Marcel says.

Hayley looks over at Elijah and he tilts his glass to her and bows his head, a silent agreement.

Rebekah suddenly makes a growling sound and slams her phone down on the window ledge. She sighs and turns around to the rest of the group. She looks furious. And who can blame her, her fiance got punched in the face off her brother tonight and now her parents won't answer the phone to help her out.

"They never answer when I actually fucking need them!" Rebekah says, angrily.

"They'll be sleeping" Elijah says.

"Stupid time difference" Rebekah says, hands on hips.

"Call them tomorrow morning first thing, that way you'll get that at a good time" Marcel says.

Rebekah nods, trying to calm herself down.

"Pour me one of those, Elijah" she says and goes to sit next to Marcel.

Elijah downs the last of what is in his glass and turns back to the table. He pours another glass for himself and one for Rebekah. He then walks over to the couch and hands Rebekah hers. She takes it and Elijah sits on the edge of the wooden coffee table in the middle of the room.

Hayley bites her bottom lip and sighs. She feels guilty. She feels that if she had not have come here to shelter herself from Klaus, then none of this would of happened. She is right, but she could hardly stay there and face Klaus' wrath everyday for the rest of her life. Coming here was her only choice.

Hayley silently vows to herself that next time Klaus is here, she will be the one to answer the door and face him. She would rather he hit her twenty times over than hit Marcel again.

"What now?" Hayley asks, filling the silence.

Marcel shrugs and Rebekah shakes her head, both have no idea what comes next.

"Rebekah will speak to our parents tomorrow. They might come to try and rectify Niklaus, they might not. I doubt Niklaus will return any time soon and if he does, I do sincerely hope that I am here" Elijah says.

"Fighting won't solve anything, Elijah" Rebekah says.

"It may not solve anything, but it will definitely cure the serve rage building up inside of me" Elijah replies before downing his drink.

Hayley smirks at him.

Rebekah tuts, "you're just as bad as him with all of this violence. I thought at least one of my brothers had grown up."

"Growing up is boring and extremely tiring" Elijah replies as he stands.

"Take your smart-ass mouth to bed" Rebekah says, rolling her eyes.

Elijah smirks and puts his glass back on the small table. He walks back to the couch and leans down to Rebekah, kissing her on the cheek. He then does as he is told and leaves the living room, pushing Hayley gently out of the room with him. She loves seeing this more playful side of him, but she knows that he is being like this to stop himself from raging and going out to find Klaus. Which would not be a good idea right now considering he has had a few drinks himself and it's one in the morning.

Hayley pulls Elijah's arms around her waist as they climb the stairs together. Overall, they have a had a wonderful night. They went to a lovely little Chinese restaurant and then went to a bar a few doors down. They did some dancing, had a few beers and then came home. And despite what has happened to Marcel, Hayley cannot say that she has not had a great night.

They reach the top of the stairs and Hayley squeals as Elijah suddenly scoops her up in his arms, bridal style. Hayley throws her head back and laughs, wrapping her arms around Elijah's neck. He smiles at the sound of her laughter and makes his way to his bedroom door. He nudges it open with his backside and then spins Hayley around in his arms, causing her to laugh even more. He kicks the door shut and turns to walk over to the bed.

Elijah sets Hayley down on the bed and kicks his shoes off before he crawls on top of her. Hayley pulls his lips to hers by his silk, navy coloured tie, meeting him in a deep kiss. Just as Hayley is about to run her tounge along Elijah's lips, he pulls back. She is about to complain, but stops when he yanks his tie off from around his neck and moves closer to her again.

Hayley moves her hands up his torso, over his firm chest and stops at his neck. She strokes the sides of his neck with her index fingers, sending chills down Elijah's body before she opens his top button on his shirt. She sees a small smirk appear on Elijah's face and she smiles to herself as she continues to undo the buttons on his shirt, working her way down to his belt. He catches her gaze and moves his face closer to hers, nuzzling her nose with his.

"He won't hurt you again" he whispers, his voice a bit husky.

Hayley pauses in undoing his buttons and bites her lip. She looks down at his chest as she pushes each side of his shirt open and runs her hands over his smooth chest. She doesn't know what to say. There are so many things that she wants to say, but none of them seem to fit. So, she acts instead.

Hayley opens the last button on Elijah's shirt and then quickly flicks his belt buckle open. Elijah plants a quick kiss on her forehead before he lowers his head to her neck. Hayley pops the button on his pants open and yanks the zip down before she runs her hands back up his chest teasingly. His lips meet her neck, his touch so soft that she can barely feel it and it sends shivers down her spine. She wants more. She tilts her head slightly so that he has better access to her neck, but that doesn't make him go any faster.

His lips slowly meet her neck again, this time he lets his tongue flick against her neck. Hayley smiles as he teases her and shakes her head, she will not put up with this. She quickly grabs his face and pulls his lips to hers. Their mouths meet and their tongues tangle together in a wild dance that Elijah is leading. Hayley sighs into his mouth and wraps her arms around his waist, under his blazer and shirt, pulling his body closer to hers.

Elijah pulls back and yanks both his blazer and his shirt off, throwing them on the floor. Hayley also yanks her black blouse over her head before throwing it on the floor to join Elijah's clothes. He quickly settles in between her legs once again, his bare chest meeting her almost bare one and his lips joining with hers again.

Hayley puts one hand on the back Elijah's head, pulling him in even more as she wriggles her tongue into his mouth. He happily lets her in. His hands find her waist and he grips onto the top of her jeans, hooking his thumbs inside of them. Hayley wraps her legs around his thighs, pulling his groin down to hers. He rubs his bulge against her and she bites at his lip, silently asking him to do it again. So he does. He continues to grind himself against her as his lips travel down her neck and to her chest.

He kisses along her collarbones, biting hard at one point to make his mark in case Klaus comes back looking for her. He slips one of his hands under her back and quickly unhooks her bra. Hayley pulls it off and then goes to bring Elijah's lips back to hers, but before she has chance to, her hands are being pinned above her head and Elijah's tongue is on her neck. He draws a circle on her neck with his tongue before he starts to travel down. His tongue slides over her collarbone and down even more, over her left nipple, making her buck her hips slightly in response. He continues south, his tongue roaming over her stomach and around her belly button before he brings it down to the button on her jeans.

Hayley risks looking down at him to find him looking right back at her. She bites her lip hard; the look on his face is extremely seductive and is doing some very positive things to her insides. His hands leave her wrists and slide down her body just like his tongue did. Hayley shivers again. He opens the button on her jeans and slowly pulls the zip down before he continues to move back on his ankles and yank her jeans off. He throws them on the floor as well, her shoes coming off with them and slips back in between her legs.

Elijah rubs his hardening bulge against Hayley's groin again and she moans under her breath. He lowers his lips to hers and instantly opens his mouth to her. Hayley takes full advantage and plunges her tongue into his mouth, meeting his tongue and swirling them together as her hands start to travel south. She drags her nails down his chest, over his stomach and then allows one of her hands to slip in between them into his pants. She cups his hard length and she feels him shiver above her, making her smirk against his lips.

She then pulls her hand out of his pants and instead puts it inside of his boxers, making direct contact with him. Elijah swallows back a moan and runs his hand down over Hayley's breast to her waist. He keeps that hand there, resting just above her hip, while his other hand holds his weight above her. Hayley doesn't care about him holding himself up, she wants to feel everything, and soon she will.

Hayley brings her feet up to Elijah's waist and drags his pants down his legs. He smiles against her lips and she can't help but smile back. He gets the message and kicks them off his ankles before he grabs Hayley's last piece of clothing, her underwear. He pulls the small black article of clothing down her legs and throws it behind him before moving in. He kisses the inside of her thigh and Hayley instantly feels a wetness building up within her. Luckily for her, he does not stop there. Elijah continues to kiss up the inside of her thigh until he reaches her core.

Slowly, Elijah brings his mouth closer to her clit. He hovers there for a moment before he gently ghosts his lips over it. He then licks it and Hayley instantly lets out a low moan. He gives her clit another kiss and then makes his way back up her body, planting kisses all the way up to her lips. His bulge rubs against her and before she can let a moan out, Elijah presses his lips against hers. Hayley moans into his mouth and brings her feet up to his waist again, ready to help him out of his boxers.

Elijah lets Hayley push his boxers down to his ankles and he kicks them off quickly. He then presses his manhood against Hayley's core, rubbing himself in between her damp folds. Hayley pulls away from the kiss and moans, wrapping her arms tightly around Elijah's neck. Elijah doesn't waste anymore time, he joins his hand with one of Hayley's interlocking their fingers together and he brings her lips back up to his as he pushes his length deep into her.

Hayley cannot hold in the moan that comes next. She moans into Elijah's mouth again and pushes her hips up slightly, wanting him as deep inside of her as he can physically go. When he is fully inside of her, Elijah slowly pulls out, not all of the way, and then pushes back into her. He pushes until he can go no further and then pulls until only the tip of his length is inside of her before going back in again. It is a pleasurable torture.

He continues his slow pace and brings his hand up to her face. He strokes her cheek softly with the back of his fingers as he thrusts in and out of her. Hayley pulls away from their breathtaking kiss and opens her eyes, Elijah also opens his eyes and looks right back at her. Hayley sees the lust and desire in his eyes and she is sure that her eyes mirror his, but there is something extra in his eyes... she can see what she would imagine to be love shining back at her.

Hayley tries not to focus on his eyes, they are beautiful and she loves them, but it is too soon for love. She slams her eyes shut and pulls his head to her shoulder. Elijah picks up the pace, thrusting into her faster and harder, making sure to rub the entire length of his shaft along her inner walls to make sure she gets as much pleasure as she can. Hayley's mouth falls open and she wraps her legs around Elijah's waist. Every time he pushes into her, she pushes against him and after repeating this a few times, she feels the wetness inside of her building up even more.

Elijah can feel himself getting closer and closer to his climax, but he wants Hayley to feel it too. He lowers his mouth to her neck and kisses her neck, his tongue slipping out of his mouth to lick at her throat. He grinds inside of her and she moans the second that she feels him rubbing her special spot. She continues to let out low moans and he continues to grind inside of her, rubbing himself against her special spot again and again, and again. Hayley tenses her walls around him and she moans as he rubs himself as slow as he can stand to go over her special spot. It won't take much now.

Hayley runs her hands down Elijah's back to his backside. She grabs his backside and pushes him into her, begging for him to go faster. He instantly complies, pushing himself into her as fast as he can as she tenses her walls around him as hard as she can, knowing that this will bring him closer to his orgasm. And it does. Elijah can feel himself about to orgasm, he quickly moves his lips to Hayley's and sends his tongue into her mouth. He devours her in a deep, passionate kiss as he goes in and out of her, just rubbing against her spot now, not bothering to try and race to his own release.

A few more rubs and Hayley's nails dig into his backside as she reaches her climax. She throws her head back against the pillow and moans as she tightens her walls through her orgasm. Elijah continues to thrust into her and finally after one extremely deep thrust he feels his release wash over him. He groans quietly and presses his forehead against Hayley's as he empties himself inside of her, continuing to thrust until he is done.

Elijah lowers his face to Hayley's shoulder and kisses it gently. Hayley smiles and strokes the small hairs at the back of his neck. He kisses her shoulder again and slowly pulls his manhood out of her before lying down next to her. Hayley slips herself under the bed covers and snuggles herself into Elijah's side, resting her hand over his heart. She can feel it booming against her hand and she smiles knowing that it was her who did that to him.

Elijah moves the covers from underneath him and slips inside of them. He pulls Hayley back to him, wrapping his arm tightly and protectively around her waist. She rests her head on his shoulder and drags her arm down to his stomach to drape over him.

Elijah puts his hand under Hayley's chin and tilts her chin upwards, forcing her to look at him.

"I adore you" he says, his voice just above a whisper.

Hayley smiles.

No one has ever said that to her before.


	30. Chapter 30

Hayley sighs and puts her phone down on the couch next to her. She has just got off the phone to the divorce lawyer and she can already tell that this is going to be a long, hard process. Cami O'Connell, Hayley's new lawyer has been informed that Klaus will deny her the divorce. When she asked why, Hayley did not tell her the truth despite wanting to. She just told Cami that she knows Klaus and she knows how cruel he can be sometimes. Cami seemed to understand. She agreed to take the divorce papers to Klaus for Hayley and Hayley is extremely thankful. She does not want the next time she sees Klaus to be with her hold divorce papers in her hands as he clenches his fists.

She slouches back into the couch and closes her eyes. She is predicting a phone call from Klaus after he gets the papers. She doubts he would risk a personal visit, but she is definitely expecting a phone call. She is also expecting some verbal abuse, hence why right now she is considering blocking his number.

Hayley hears the living room door open and she opens her eyes to see Elijah stood there. He is wearing a navy blue suit tonight, a light blue shirt to go with it. He looks divine. He looks down at the floor, seeming a bit nervous. When he looks back up there is a small smile on his face.

"How did it go?" He asks, pushing his left hand into his pocket.

Hayley sighs, "about as good as it could go."

Elijah chooses his words carefully.

"Nothing about this will be easy... but myself and Rebekah will be by your side through all of it."

Hayley smiles at him.

"Thank you, Elijah. It means a lot" Hayley replies.

She stands up and walks over to him. She plants a quick kiss on his cheek and moves past him towards the front door. She almost forgot that they were going out tonight due to the phone call. She feels stressed and Elijah knows this. That is why he has been taking her out so often, to try and get her away from it all. He knows there is not much he can do to help, but he is still willing to try.

Elijah follows her, opening the front door for her. Hayley walks out onto the pouch and looks up at the night sky, it is almost a full moon. Elijah closes the door and walks in front of her towards his car parked outside of the house. Hayley continues to look up at the sky for a few moments longer before she follows him slowly.

Elijah opens the car door for her, forever being the perfect gentleman. Hayley steps into the car and he gives her a quick smile before he shuts her door. Hayley sighs and pushes her seat belt into its slot. Elijah gets into the car and buckles himself in before looking at Hayley.

"I think you'll like where we are going tonight" he says.

"Well, I've liked everywhere you have taken me so far" Hayley says, smiling.

Elijah starts the car and pulls out of his parking spot. The drive to the restaurant is quiet and peaceful, and it allows Hayley to think about everything that was said over the phone before they go into the restaurant. She doesn't want to ruin their evening by constantly thinking about Klaus' reaction to the divorce papers. Besides, depending how far down on the list she is, she could still be waiting weeks for the letters to get to him. But with what Cami said, she feels like it will only be a matter of days.

Elijah drives slowly down the busy streets of New Orleans and pulls into the first space he finds. The constant flow of people makes it very hard to drive through the main streets. He stops the car engine and unbuckles his seat belt, then watching Hayley do the same.

He doesn't say anything. He gets out of the car and walks around to her side before she has chance to open her door. He opens it for her and watches her beautiful form step out of his car. Her knee length maroon dress and her black leather jacket go perfectly together and they compliment her beauty in every way possible. He shuts the door behind her and his hand comes to rest on the bottom of her back as they start to walk towards the restaurant.

They turn a corner and Hayley smiles, knowing where they are going. Commander's Palace. A beautiful little restaurant right in the middle of New Orleans. It is almost always busy, but that isn't a surprise when the food they do is absolutely gorgeous. Klaus brought her here once, a good few years ago for their one year anniversary.

They cross the road and Elijah walks ahead, opening the door to the restaurant for her. Hayley smiles at him as she walks past and enters the restaurant. She smiles as she looks around at all of the happy people dining and chatting, drinking and laughing. The atmosphere in here is brilliant just like it always has been, and she hopes it never changes.

Hayley feels Elijah's hand on the small of her back again and she turns to look at him, smiling. He smiles back at her and wraps his hand right around her waist, his hand coming to rest on her hip. They are so engulfed in one another that they almost don't notice the waiter approaching them.

"Good evening, how can I help you?" The waiter asks, giving them a big grin.

"I booked a table earlier under Mikaelson" Elijah says and the waiter's smile grows.

"Ahh Mr Mikaelson, follow me please" the waiter says.

He doesn't waste a second longer, guiding Elijah and Hayley through the countless tables of cheerful people. They follow the waiter through into another room of full tables and then down a quiet corridor. He finally leads them into a much more quiet room, there only being five tables in here and only one of them has people sat at it. He leads them to a table right in the corner of the room and then gestures for them to sit down.

They both take a seat opposite each other and Hayley smiles as she looks around the room. Two giant black tree stickers are on the wall, leading out onto the ceiling over their heads. The lighting is low and the candles in each corner of the room make the room an orange colour. There is a large picture on the all behind Elijah of some majestic scenery and their are three small pictures just behind Hayley. All of them displaying scenery as well.

The waiter places a menu in front of Elijah and then one in front of Hayley. He then hides his hands behind his back, standing as straight as he can.

"Everything sounds so nice" Hayley says, looking down into the menu.

Elijah nods his head, smirking.

"Personally, I would recommend our Collars and Caviar. The flavouring is truly unique" the waiter says.

"As nice as that sounds, I think I will go with the Chargrilled Louisiana Beef" Elijah says.

He places his menu on the table and opens the button on his blazer, making himself comfortable.

"Okay, sir. And for you madam?" The waiter asks Hayley.

She quickly scans the menu again.

"I will have the Crisp Romaine Salad please" Hayley says.

The waiter nods, "of course. Any drinks?"

"Yes, could we please have a bottle of Bordeaux" Elijah replies.

"Of course, sir. Anything for you madam?"

Hayley knows nothing about wine.

"No thank you" Hayley says, knowing Elijah will share.

The waiter gives them a smile and leaves them.

Hayley sighs and looks around again. She loves this room they are in and she is glad that Elijah booked ahead. She also assumes that he booked a private dining table. It is a very Elijah Mikaelson thing to do so it would not surprise her if he did.

Elijah finally manages to catch Hayley's gaze when she has stopped admiring the room and he smiles at her. She smiles back and leans forwards in her seat.

"How is everything with the office coming along?" Hayley asks.

Elijah has been out all day planning and working on his new offices. He has spent quite a bit of time there as of recent because he wants the job to be done as soon as possible. The quicker the offices are finished, the quicker he can start to earn back all the money he has put into the place.

"It is coming along very nicely. There isn't much left to do now" Elijah tells her.

"What do you do when you go to the office? Do you do some of the building?" Hayley highly doubts he does the building, but she asks anyway.

Elijah smiles.

"I draw out the blueprints and I help with the decor" Elijah says.

"I didn't think you'd be a builder" she admits, smiling.

"Why is that?" Elijah asks, also smiling.

Hayley shrugs, "you're too fancy and builders aren't usually fancy."

Elijah chuckles and shakes his head.

"I helped father build a tree house when I was a teenager" he tells her. "And I assisted with the extension he built."

Hayley smiles and raises her eyes in amazement.

"Is there anything you can't do?" She asks, jokingly.

Elijah looks down at the table, unable to stop smiling.

"You do brilliant with the whole theorist thing considering you didn't go to uni" Hayley says.

Elijah looks up and frowns.

"How do you know I didn't go to university?" He asks.

"Rebekah" Hayley says.

"I should of known" Elijah says, smirking.

"She's like your diary. Every time I speak to her about you she reveals something new" Hayley says, chuckling.

Elijah shakes his head.

"Typical Rebekah" he says.

The waiter returns, two glasses in one hand and a bottle of red wine in his other hand. He places the bottle on the table and then places a glass in front of Hayley and then Elijah.

"Would you like me to pour, sir?" He asks.

"No thank you, I can handle that" Elijah says.

The waiter nods.

"You're food shall be here shortly, sorry about the wait" he tells them.

"Don't worry about it" Hayley tells him.

The waiter smiles at Hayley and then leaves again. Hayley turns to Elijah as he pops the cork off the bottle of wine.

"Tell me then, how do you do so well without a degree?" She asks.

Elijah smirks as he pours the wine into Hayley's glass, stopping at the halfway mark. He then pours the same amount into his glass before putting the bottle to one side.

"Books. While I was travelling, I was reading and researching as much as I could. However, without a degree it would have been hard to find a job with a company, so I created my own... with the help of father. He funded me whilst I was starting my business and then I payed him back once I had the money, I believe I payed him interest as well if I am remembering correctly."

"If only you were a lawyer, then you could sort out my divorce" Hayley jokes.

Elijah smiles.

"If only" he says.

Hayley bites her lip and swirls the liquid in her glass. She then takes a sip of the wine and is very impressed with the taste. All she knows about wine is that if it tastes good, then she will drink it all. This wine however, she will not be forgetting anytime soon.

Hayley knows that she shouldn't bring the divorce up right now, but she wants to tell Elijah what Cami said. She doesn't want to hide anything from him, especially when after all of this she could have a future with him. She decides to tell him.

"The lawyer's taking the papers to Klaus."

Elijah raises an eyebrow.

"When?" He asks.

"She didn't say, she just said as soon as she can" Hayley tells him.

"The sooner, the better" Elijah says.

Hayley takes another sip from her glass.

"He's not gonna like it" she says, looking anywhere but at Elijah.

"I think you'll find Niklaus doesn't like much" Elijah says. He reaches over the table and holds his hand out, palm facing upwards. His request is obvious and Hayley obliges, placing her hand in his and squeezing.

"He can't force you to stay married to him. If he declines the papers, then a court hearing will be arranged" he says.

Hayley nods, that is what Cami told her as well.

"I just want it to all be over" Hayley admits.

Elijah squeezes her hand, comforting her.

"It will all be worth it" he says.

She looks up at him and gives him a small smile. He smiles back at her.

Elijah sees the waiter coming over to them and he moves his hand off the table. Hayley does the same. The waiter puts Hayley's plate down in front of her and then places Elijah's plate in front of him. He then pulls their cutlery from his pocket, both sets neatly wrapped in a white napkin. He places one set of cutlery besides each plate.

"If you need anything, I'll just be in the other room. I hope you enjoy" the waiter says.

"Thank you" Hayley says.

Elijah nods to him, a silent thank you.

The waiter smiles at them and leaves.

Elijah picks up his knife and fork and starts to cut at his food. Hayley picks up her fork and stabs a chunk of her food with it. The second she puts the food into her mouth she wants more. The flavours burst into her mouth, mixing and moulding together in the most delicious way.

Hayley grabs her knife and starts to cut her food up.

"I want to take you away," Elijah says suddenly and Hayley almost chokes on her food out of shock.

Hayley looks up to see him cutting into his food casually as if he didn't say anything.

"Take me where?" Hayley asks.

"Somewhere where all of your troubles can fade away" he says.

Hayley smiles, she could swear that in another life Elijah was a poet.

"That sounds nice. When will we go?" Hayley asks.

"The day your divorce goes through" Elijah says, smirking.

"Going on holiday the day my divorce goes through will be a brilliant distraction" she says, smiling at him.

"Where would you want to go?" Elijah asks, finally looking up at her.

Hayley tilts her head as she looks at him, biting her lip.

"Maybe Spain... Or Italy. I have always wanted to go and you did mention having a family home there" Hayley says, grinning at him.

Elijah chuckles and goes back to eating his food.

"We'll see" he says.

Hayley smiles as she watches him eat. Now that he has mentioned it, a holiday with him is something she really wants. Just them, a nice peaceful villa and the beautiful sunset. Maybe one day.

 **Hi guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you are enjoying the story every bit as much as I am enjoying writing it. If you have any questions, or suggestions feel free to inbox me as always. I might even add your idea to the story in a future chapter if it fits in well. I appreciate every bit of feedback, every follow and every view I get and I thought that chapter 30 would be a good time to thank you for all of the support. So, a big thank you to everyone who reads this story and an extra big thank you to those who give me frequent feedback. Your opinions mean a lot and I would not be here without any of you. Also, I would appreciate it massively if you go and have a read of my latest story 'Incoming Storm', if you already have, thank you.**


	31. Chapter 31

Hayley sits down on the couch in Rebekah's living room and lets out a deep breath. She is nervous. She hasn't been this nervous in god knows how long. She wasn't even this nervous on her wedding day, she was just looking forward to getting it all over with and going on her honeymoon. Now she wishes that she could have been nervous that day. Then maybe she would have had the chance to runaway from the church.

The lawyer will be here any minute now. When Cami had told Hayley that she would get to work on the case as soon as she could, Hayley did not expect to be having a visit from her lawyer this soon. She had predicted weeks at the least. In a way Hayley is glad that the long process of which is to be her divorce to Klaus is about to start. That way it will all be over soon. Soon being maybe a good few months. But she also wishes that she could of been given a bit longer to get her head around it all.

Hayley sighs and leans back into the couch, forgetting that she was trying to keep her borrowed blazer jacket from getting creased.

Today is the day that she will have to relive everything that has happened in the last few weeks. All of the good and all of the bad. She will be revealing every beating and every time she cheated. She has considered trying to keep Elijah out of this, but she knows that could backfire on her if the case ends up going to court.

"You're panicking too much."

Hayley looks up to see Rebekah leaning against the door frame, cup of coffee in hand. Rebekah had agreed to stay with her when the lawyer came. She told Hayley it was because girls have to stick together, which is something that Rebekah is big on, but Hayley thinks it is more likely that she wants to stay to meet the lawyer because she is nosy.

"I feel like I'm not panicking enough" Hayley replies.

Rebekah smiles and takes a sip from her cup.

"I have to tell her everything."

"You don't have to... but I think it's probably best if you do" Rebekah says.

Hayley sits up and leans forwards slightly.

"I feel like I'm about to let someone read my diary" Hayley whines.

"Oh god no. I would never let anyone get their hands on my diary. The amount of dirt and filth in there, and all of it about me as well," Rebekah shudders.

Hayley can imagine how bad Rebekah's diary is and she can confidently say that she would not want to read it.

"Stefan Salvatore" Rebekah says, staring dreamily at nothing in particular.

Hayley frowns and looks over at her friend.

"Who?" Hayley asks.

"High school crush and dream boy, Stefan Salvatore. Now that is one man's diary that I would love to get my hands on" the blonde says, smirking to herself.

"That's great to know, but it doesn't really help me with the case does it?" Hayley asks.

"You might think it is bad timing for this conversation, but what you fail to realise is that there is never a bad time to discuss beautiful boys such as Stefan Salvatore" Rebekah says, falling into her dream world again.

Hayley rolls her eyes.

There is a knock at the door. Hayley and Rebekah look at each other and Rebekah can see the very clear panic on her friend's face.

"Calm down, Hayley. She's here to help you" Rebekah says.

Rebekah goes to answer the door and Hayley closes her eyes. She sighs and repeats to herself that Rebekah is right. Cami is here to help her, not Klaus. She rubs one hand over her face and opens her eyes as she hears the door shut. She stands up, straightening out her blazer and getting ready to introduce herself.

A young, slim and very happy looking woman steps into the living room. She is blonde, her hair stopping just past her shoulders and she has lovely green eyes. She isn't very tall, not as tall as Hayley, or Rebekah, but she looks nice. She is wearing a navy blue ladies suit and a white blouse, a black case in her right hand. Her look suits her.

She smiles and Hayley almost forgets to smile back.

"You must be Hayley" Cami says as she walks towards Hayley.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you" Hayley says, holding her hand out.

Cami takes Hayley's hand in hers and they shake hands.

"Cami O'Connell, your new lawyer" she introduces herself.

Hayley smiles at Cami and takes her hand back.

"Please take a seat, Cami. I'm going to get myself another coffee, anyone want anything?" Rebekah asks.

Cami takes a seat on the couch.

"A coffee would be nice, make it black please" Cami says.

Rebekah nods and looks to Hayley.

"No thanks, Rebekah" she says as she sits down.

Rebekah nods.

"I'll be right back" Rebekah says and leaves.

Hayley turns her body to face Cami, realising now how stupid she was to be nervous. Cami seems like a nice woman who will genuinely try to help her through this. Typical that she would get worked up over something like this.

Cami pulls her case onto her knee and opens the clips either side of it. She pulls out a file and puts it onto the couch in between them and then also pulls out a notepad, which she puts on top of the file. She then closes the case and puts it onto the floor, turning to fully face Hayley and pulling a pen out of her pocket.

Cami picks the notepad up and puts it onto her knee, ready to jot anything down.

"So, why don't we start with a few basics, nothing to hard, all things that don't require much thought" Cami says and Hayley nods. "Okay, how long have you and Klaus been married for?"

"Four years, almost five."

Cami starts to make notes.

"And when did things start to hit rock bottom?"

"Erm, the end of year three maybe."

"What was a major turning point in the marriage?"

"When he started to work more and go on work trips" Hayley says, unsure how any of this is relevant.

Cami nods as she makes some more notes.

"Has he ever cheated on you?" She asks.

Hayley shakes her head.

"Not that I know of, but he's away enough that he could get away with it."

"Do you think he has cheated?"

"No" Hayley says, biting her lip.

Rebekah returns with two coffee cups. She puts one on the coffee table in front of Cami and then takes a seat on the table in front of Hayley. Rebekah nudges Hayley's knee with her own and gives her a small smile. Hayley gives the best smile she can manage. Cami looks up from her notepad and smiles at Rebekah as she reaches for her coffee cup.

"Thank you, Rebekah" she says.

Cami takes a long drink from her cup and then puts it back on the table, picking up her pen and getting ready to make more notes.

"Let's start with some more recent stuff now. So, you just tell me everything I need to know and I'll ask questions when I feel I need to" Cami says, then adding, "feel free to contribute to Hayley's story anytime you feel you need to, Rebekah."

Hayley nods and clears her throat.

"Klaus has a serious drinking problem. It started when he started all of his extra shifts and his extra work. I don't know why he drinks so much, but he does and he is a terrible drunk. The past year and a half has just been him getting drunk and arguing with me, and yes sometimes I do start it because I am annoyed that he is drunk again, but it is mostly him."

"How many drinks on a typical night would you say Klaus has?" Cami asks.

Hayley and Rebekah share a look.

"I'd say he goes through a bottle of bourbon a night" Rebekah says.

"He drinks at the bar before he comes home as well though" Hayley informs them.

Hayley turns back to look at Cami.

"On an ordinary night he has about seven, or eight drinks at home" she tells her lawyer.

"And more before that you said?" Cami double checks.

"Yes usually" Hayley says.

Cami nods and makes some notes.

"Carry on, Hayley" the lawyer says.

Hayley nods.

"Nearly two months ago, Klaus' older brother Elijah came to stay with us. I had never met Elijah before he came to stay with us, but I didn't mind because Klaus' family is my family."

Rebekah buts in, "Klaus and Elijah are always on and off, they are either tight as thieves, or ready to kill each other."

"Yeah, so he came to stay and everything was okay. I was having a lot of fun with him around and then Klaus thought I was sleeping with Elijah because of how well we were getting on... so he tried to strangle me. He pushed me against the fridge and threatened me. Rebekah was there that time and stopped him before any more harm was done. Then he left for a business trip."

"He never physically harmed you before that?" Cami asks.

Hayley shakes her head. Cami nods and makes another note.

"Okay take me through the past few weeks incident by incident" she says.

Hayley nods and sits up a bit more.

"While Klaus was gone, I did start to get feelings for Elijah." Cami looks up, surprised. "He was kind and he was there for me. He treats me like I'm an actual person, not many men have treated me like that in my life. So, the morning that Klaus came back from his business trip, we kissed. I didn't mean for it to happen and it was a mistake, but I don't regret it," Hayley says.

"And are you seeing this Elijah now?" Cami asks, eyebrow raised.

"Yes" Hayley replies.

Cami nods and makes a note in her pad.

"Carry on" the lawyer says.

"The second time he abused me was when Elijah went out to dinner with Rebekah. He was shouting at me and accusing me of having sex with Elijah, which by that point I had not done. I denied it and tried to go to bed, but he dragged me back and hit me" Hayley pauses. "He hit me three more times and then threw me on to the floor. He left me there and I phoned Elijah. He came with Rebekah and they looked after me."

"She didn't look good at all" Rebekah adds.

"He hit you four times in the face?" Cami asks.

Hayley nods, biting on her lip hard as she tires not to let all of the memories take over her mind.

"Klaus came back while Elijah and Rebekah were at the apartment and Elijah nearly had a fight with him. I took Elijah away to stop them from fighting and we agreed to try and resolve everything in the morning" Hayley tells her lawyer.

"I slapped him" Rebekah admits. "I slapped Klaus once they had left the room."

Cami smirks and mutters, "good on you."

Rebekah smiles at the lawyer.

"The next day we sat down and tried to talk everything through. At first everything was going okay, but then we started to argue again. He couldn't understand that I couldn't just forgive him after what he had done. He started to provoke Rebekah and Elijah had to drag her away before she killed him. I went to the bathroom while they were gone; I didn't want to be left alone with Klaus. When I came back, Elijah was about to leave. Klaus has kicked him out. He told me he would be back later and left. When Klaus came back from packing his back, he was working away again, but he didn't tell me that, I started to shout at him and defend Elijah."

Hayley swallows as memories flash through her mind of what happened next. Rebekah puts her hand on Hayley's back and rubs soothing circles, trying to help her friend as best as she can.

"Take your time, Hayley" Cami says, knowing this must be hard for Hayley.

Hayley takes a deep breath to stop herself from tearing up and nods her head.

"He hit me again... too many times to count. Then he threw me on the floor and left. He just left me there."

"Did you phone anyone for help?" Cami asks.

"Not this time. I just lay there on the floor with my dog" Hayley tells her.

Cami makes a quick note.

"What type of dog do you have? This has nothing to do with the case, I just really love dogs" she says.

Hayley smiles and whistles loudly. A few seconds later they hear the clicking of claws against the wooden floors and Jack comes trotting in. Cami looks at him adoringly as he trots around the coffee table to greet her. Cami strokes Jack's head before he moves to see Hayley. He rests his head on Hayley's knee and looks up at her. She smiles down at him and tickles behind his ear.

"He is beautiful" Cami says, smiling at him.

Rebekah smiles down at the dog as Hayley continues to tickle behind his ear. Hayley looks up at Cami.

"Shall I carry on?" The brunette asks.

"Of course" Cami replies, getting ready to make more notes.

Hayley sighs as she remembers where she was.

"Elijah came back like he said he would and he helped me. He bandaged me up and helped clean my wounds. He was there for me when I felt alone and I know it was kind of wrong, but we had sex." Hayley pauses, expecting to be judged. She carries on when she realises that Cami is not judging her. "I just felt so empty and numb. I wanted to feel something again. So, we had sex."

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, are you sure he didn't take advantage of you?" Cami asks.

Hayley shakes her head.

"No. I kissed him first" Hayley replies.

Cami nods and makes a note as she says, "okay, carry on."

"Do I have to tell you about every time we had sex?" Hayley asks.

"Only if you feel comfortable" the lawyer says.

Hayley nods. At this point she might as well tell Cami everything anyway.

"Well, we had sex the next morning again and then Rebekah came to the apartment. I spent the rest of the day with her. The next few days were okay; I managed to avoid Klaus, but not for long. I had been on a run, Klaus came in from work a few minutes after me and started to argue with me. He pinned me against the living room wall and was about to hit me, but he stopped because Jack jumped in. He growled at Klaus and made him back away."

"He's a very good dog" Cami comments.

Hayley smiles, "yes he is."

She gives Jack another quick stroke before she looks back up at Cami to continue.

"I got out of the apartment while Jack distracted Klaus and ran outside. Jack followed me and we ran here, to Rebekah's house. We stayed here that night and Elijah drove me back to mine in the morning. I thought I was home alone, but Klaus soon came out of his hiding place. We argued about getting a divorce. He got angry and grabbed me by my hair, ready to drag me wherever he wanted, but he let go when Jack bit him."

Cami raises her eyebrows in shock, but does not say anything as she continues to make her notes.

"Klaus kicked Jack into a wall and he didn't get back up. So, with Jack no longer stopping him he grabbed me by my hair again and dragged me to the bedroom. He threw me on the bedroom floor and shut the door to keep me in with him. I stood up again and grabbed a glass off the bedside table while he was coming towards me. I hit him with it and he threw me down on the bed. He tried to take my shoes off, but I kicked him away and he fell on the floor." Hayley pauses, the next bit is hard for her.

"I jumped off the bed and went to run to the en-suite bathroom, but he got me. He grabbed me again by my hair and threw me back onto the floor. He took off his jacket and stomped on my ankle as hard as he could. Then he got on top of me and started to strangle me. I tired to push him off, but he was too strong. He didn't like that I was fighting against him and he headbutted me. He opened his belt buckle and and then grabbed my hands so he could pin them above my head."

Hayley stops and bites her lip as tears well up in her eyes. She doesn't want to cry, he isn't worth her tears. Rebekah starts to rub her back again and Hayley takes a deep breath before she continues.

"He started to kiss my neck. I tried to push him away and and he bit my neck. I scratched his hands to try and let go of me, but he wouldn't. He held my hands down with one of his and started to strangle me again with his other hand. I thought I was going to pass out. That's when he started to undo my pants, I could barely move because of how lightheaded I was. I told him to get off me, but he didn't listen. I screamed at him to get off me, but he didn't. He raised his hand to hit me and I closed my eyes, but he didn't do it."

"You definitely told him to get off you?" Cami asks.

"Yes, several times" Hayley answers.

Cami nods and continues with her notes.

"I felt him get off me and I opened my eyes to see what was going on. I saw Elijah stood over Klaus. They started to fight and I wanted to stop them, but I couldn't. I felt too dizzy. I fastened my pants back up and tried to calm myself down. Elijah eventually knocked Klaus down and came over to me. He picked me up and carried me to the elevator before he went back to get Jack. We took Jack to the vets and then came here."

"And this is now where you live?" Cami asks Hayley.

Hayley nods, "yes, Rebekah asked me to stay."

Cami nods to herself.

"You did the right thing, Rebekah" Cami says.

Rebekah smiles smugly to herself.

"Elijah lives here too?" Cami asks.

"He has done since Klaus kicked him out" Rebekah answers her.

Cami makes a few more notes.

"Has anything happened since then?" The lawyer asks.

"He came here a few nights ago" Rebekah says.

Cami looks up at her, not even the least bit shocked after everything she has heard so far.

"Could you tell me what happened?" Cami asks and Rebekah nods.

"He came here demanding that Hayley go home with him. Of course, I told him to get lost. There was no way I was letting her go back with him after everything he has done. So, we argued a little and when he didn't leave, my fiance, Marcel came to the door and told him to leave. They argued and Klaus hit him."

"Where were you during this, Hayley?" Cami asks.

"Elijah took me out" she answers.

Cami nods and makes a quick note.

"Continue, Rebekah."

"After he hit Marcel, I slapped him. There was no way I was going to stand there and watch him get away with him hitting my man, so I slapped him. And then he went to hit me" Rebekah tells her.

Cami buts in, "define went to hit you."

"He raised his hand in the air above me" Rebekah says. Cami jots everything down quickly. "Anyway, I told him to go and he did. We haven't seen, or heard from him since."

"And where is your fiance today?" Cami asks.

"He's at work" Rebekah answers.

Cami nods and makes a few mores notes. She then looks up at Hayley.

"So, give me one main reason to put on your case for why you want a divorce?"

"Abusive" Hayley answers honestly.

Cami nods her head. "I thought you might say that."

She makes another note.

"Okay, well I will have to speak to Elijah and Marcel if you want to press charges, but that can wait for the time being. This is the part where I say I think you should take this to court and have him put away for what he has done to you, but it is entirely your choice. If you say no, I will not pursue" Cami says.

"I don't want to go to court" Hayley says. "I know I should, but I just want this over with so I can move on with my life."

"I completely understand" Cami says.

Cami gathers her notepad and the file in her hand and pulls her case back onto her knee. She pushes them into the case and then secures the case shut. She sighs and reaches over to grab her coffee cup. She downs the last of it and places the cup back on the table.

"Today has been extremely valuable to the case, thank you both of you" Cami says.

"What happens next?" Rebekah asks.

"I'll visit Klaus with the necessary files and with the contract. Hopefully, he will just sign it, but from all of that, I doubt it. If not, I will phone a friend of mine and try to bypass all of the procedures the courts make you go through" Cami says.

"Seriously? You'd do that?" Hayley asks, shocked and extremely grateful.

"Don't tell anyone, but I do it quite often" the lawyer admits.

"You picked a good one, Hayley" Rebekah says, smiling at Cami.

Cami laughs and stands up, picking her case up. Hayley and Rebekah also stand up.

"I will pay a visit to Klaus as soon as I can. I'm not saying it will be this week, but it will definitely be soon" Cami says.

"That's great" Hayley says.

They walk around the coffee table, Hayley and Rebekah following Cami to the door to see her off. Hayley honestly did not expect things to go so well today. She was nervous over literally nothing.

Cami stops at the door and turns to face the other women.

"I will be in contact soon. Don't worry about anything, I will sort all of this out" Cami says.

"Thank you so much" Hayley says, grinning widely.

"It's what I'm here for" Cami says, returning the smile.

The door suddenly opens and Elijah walks in. All three women turn to look at him, but his eyes go straight to Hayley. She looks very cheerful which he assumes means everything has gone well. That he is extremely grateful for. He cannot wait for all of this to be over with so he can finally call Hayley his.

Elijah finally looks at Cami and smiles, holding his hand out to her.

"Elijah Mikaelson. You must be Hayley's lawyer" he says.

Cami smiles back at him, taking his hand.

"Yes I am. Cami O'Connell" she introduces herself.

Elijah takes his hand back from Cami.

"Everything go well I assume?" Elijah asks.

"Everything went brilliant" Rebekah speaks up before anyone else can.

"I'm going to handle everything. There is nothing for any of you to worry about" Cami tells him.

Elijah nods and gives her a small smile. He looks at Hayley again and he can see the happiness in her eyes, which makes him feel happy. He smiles at her and she smiles back instantly.

"I'm going to get a shower. It was nice to meet you, Cami" Elijah says.

"You too, Elijah" Cami says.

Elijah moves to Hayley and gives her a quick kiss on the side of her head. He then makes his way upstairs. Once he is definitely out of hearing distance, Cami leans in closer to Hayley.

"I can see why you fell for him" she whispers.

Hayley chuckles.

"He is everything I have ever wanted" Hayley admits.

"Let's get this divorce over with quickly then" Cami says and holds her hand out to Hayley.

Hayley takes Cami's hand and shakes it. She then drops Hayley's hand and holds her hand out to Rebekah. They shake hands and then Cami opens the front door.

"Goodbye, ladies" Cami says and gives them one last smile.

"Bye" Hayley and Rebekah say at the same time.

They watch her walk down the garden path and then shut the door. The second the door shuts, Hayley and Rebekah jump into each other's arms and scream, overwhelming happiness wrapping itself tightly around them. Elijah hears them from the bathroom and can't stop himself from laughing.


	32. Chapter 32

Rebekah walks into the living room carrying a bowl of popcorn. Hayley smiles up at the blonde as she walks in with their sugary treat, popcorn is one of Hayley's favourite things, especially when there is a good film on to go with it, which tonight there is. Titanic is just starting and with no one in except Hayley and Rebekah, there is nothing to disturb their film night. Rebekah sits down on the couch next to Hayley and sighs happily as she shuffles to get comfy.

Suddenly they hear the front door. They both share a look of slight irritation at the thought of their film night being disturbed, but the look is quickly wiped from their faces as Elijah walks into the living room. He has blood coming from his nose, a bruise under his left eye and he is holding the right side of his body with his left hand. Hayley jumps up from the couch and goes to him straight away, putting one hand on his bicep.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Rebekah asks as she stands up.

"Thugs" is Elijah's only response.

Rebekah puts the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and Hayley gently tugs Elijah to the couch. Hayley sits down with him and moves her hand to his knee, squeezing it gently as Elijah loosens his tie and opens the top button on his shirt.

"Did you get a good look at who did this?" Rebekah asks, hands on hips.

"It has been dealt with, don't worry yourself" Elijah replies casually.

"Surely you know who did this. You don't have many enemies, Elijah" the blonde says.

Elijah sighs, clearly not wanting to discuss what has happened right now.

"It has been dealt with, Rebekah" he says, annoyance audible in his voice.

Hayley is not surprised that Elijah is annoyed. He has hidden his annoyance well recently, but eventually everyone shows how they really feel. Even those who have as much control as Elijah. The past months have been full of nothing but trouble for him and being beaten by a few thugs is not exactly something that would heighten his mood.

Rebekah sighs, deciding not to question her brother further.

"I'll go and get you a cloth and an ice pack" the blonde says.

"Thank you" Elijah says, quietly.

Rebekah leaves the room.

Hayley puts her hand on Elijah's cheek and turns his head so that he is looking at her. She looks into his eyes and she can see that he isn't really annoyed, he is upset. She strokes his cheek, enjoying the feel of his prickly stubble against her fingertips and brings her hand down to his tie. She brings her other hand up to his tie as well and pulls it from around his neck. She puts it on the floor next to her feet and then puts her hands on his thigh.

Elijah releases a deep breathe that he didn't realise he was holding as he looks at Hayley. He loves the bond that they share. They never have to speak much to each other because they understand each other with, and without words. This is one time that words are necessary however.

"I knew who attacked me" he says, breaking the silence.

Hayley raises her eyebrows slightly.

"It was my brother."

Hayley feels anger taking over her body.

"Klaus did this?" She asks, gritting her teeth.

"No. It was Kol and his thugs" Elijah answers, wiping some blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

"Kol's thugs?" Hayley asks, shocked.

Elijah nods.

"Kol is part of a gang. He is very well appreciated by this gang, they give him whatever he wants" Elijah tells her.

"No offence, but your family has a lot of issues" Hayley says, shaking her head.

Elijah smirks.

Rebekah walks back into the living room. She has a bowl of water in one hand and two ice packs in her other hand. She comes to sit on the coffee table in front of Elijah and hands him the ice packs. He takes them and instantly puts one inside of his blazer, but over his shirt on his aching ribs. He puts the other next to him on the couch, he will use it for his nose later.

Rebekah puts the bowl on the floor in front of Hayley. There is a small red cloth in the water ready to be used to wipe the blood from Elijah's face. Hayley picks the cloth from the water and rinses it out a bit. She puts her hand under Elijah's chin and turns his head to look at her. She carefully starts to dab at the blood under and around his nose.

"Kol did this to him" Hayley tells Rebekah.

Rebekah opens her mouth in shock and frowns. The anger towards another one of her brothers becoming very clear on her face.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with our family?" Rebekah asks rhetorically. "Why did he do this?"

"He was not there, but his thugs gave me a message from him" Elijah says.

He stays silent as Hayley wipes some of the blood from his top lip.

"What were his exact words?" Rebekah asks.

"Cheating is wrong."

Rebekah jumps up onto her feet.

"Cheating is wrong?! He is defending Klaus after what he did to Hayley!" Rebekah scoffs in disgust. "I always knew Kol was a disturbing individual, but I didn't think he was that messed up."

"We should have seen this coming; Kol has never been the same since he joined that gang" Elijah says.

"I hope you gave them thugs a bloody good beating" Rebekah says, almost sounding like she is threatening Elijah.

Elijah nods. "They got worse than what they gave."

Hayley looks down at Elijah's knuckles to see blood covering them. She finishes with the blood on his face and dips the cloth back into the bowl of water. She then rinses it and takes one of Elijah's hands in hers, carefully wiping his bloodied knuckles with the cloth as she feels guilt start to eat away at her... she should have never brought him into this mess.

"Well, now I'm definitely phoning mother. Even better, I'll phone father. He will come and put Klaus back in his place" Rebekah rants.

"Father will not fly from England just to give Niklaus a beating. They have not been in touch with each other for years, I think both of them would like it to remain that way" Elijah says, watching Hayley wipe his hands.

"This isn't about what they want, this is about all of us" Rebekah says.

Hayley starts to wipe Elijah's other knuckle.

"This is tearing our family apart, Elijah. We can't carry on like this" Rebekah says, sadness shining in her eyes.

Elijah goes to say something, but no words come out of his mouth. He isn't quite sure what to say to his little sister. He knows bringing father here is a terrible idea, but maybe it will knock some sense into their brothers. Or maybe, it will make everything ten times worse.

"Rebekah's right" Hayley says. "You can't carry on like this, none of you can."

Elijah and Rebekah remain silent.

"I'm sorry I dragged you all into this. Once the divorce has gone through, I think it's best if I get away from here. Maybe if I go you will be able to fix your family" Hayley says, sadly.

"No" Elijah replies, shaking his head.

Hayley stops wiping his knuckles and looks up at him. He shakes his head again and puts his hand on her cheek, feeling her soft, smooth skin underneath his hand.

"None of this is your fault" Elijah says, his voice laced with love.

"And you aren't going anywhere, Hayley. We are in this together" Rebekah says.

Hayley runs a hand through her hair. The stress of this situation is really starting to get to her.

"We are family. We protect one another, always and forever. To some of us, that means nothing. To the rest of us, that means everything" Elijah tells her.

Hayley nods, a stray tear falling down her face.

Rebekah senses that the couple need some time alone. She leans down and picks up the bowl.

"I'm going to get take out. I'll get the usuals" Rebekah says.

Hayley nods in acknowledgement and Rebekah gives her a small smile before she leaves.

Hayley puts the cloth down on the coffee table. She then falls back, slouching deep into the couch. Elijah also slouches into the couch and Hayley rests her head on his shoulder. She closes her eyes and sighs. This was not what she signed up for when she married Klaus. And Elijah definitely deserves better than everything that he is getting right now.

Elijah pushes the ice pack a bit harder onto his ribs as he feels a bit of pain start to shoot through his body.

"I thought I had managed to put my fighting days behind me" Elijah says.

"I'm guessing things are only going to get worse from now on" Hayley says, quietly.

Elijah frowns, "why?"

"Things never go well when gang's get involved."

"You're not wrong" Elijah says and sighs.

He can feel a headache coming on. He closes his eyes and puts his hand on Hayley's thigh.

"When all of this is over, I'll take you far away from here" Elijah says.

Hayley smiles and shuffles as close to Elijah as she can get.

"Tell me more."

"We can fly out to Paris, buy an apartment, settle down and live a nice, happy life" Elijah says, a half smile on his face.

Hayley smiles again.

"Sounds wonderful" she replies. "I'm not use to happy."

"I'll be sure to change that" Elijah says, smirking.

Hayley chuckles and opens her eyes as she sits up. She turns to look at Elijah and puts her hand on top of his on his thigh. She strokes the back of his hand with her index finger, making random patterns. They make eye contact and the room seems to heat up as Hayley leans closer to Elijah. She kisses him lightly, pulling back to make sure she hasn't hurt his nose, or applied to much pressure in case he is in pain. She assumes that he is not in pain when his hand come to the tangle in her hair as he pulls her lips back to his.

It is moments like this when she can feel herself falling for him. Falling down a deep hole which she will never be able to escape, and she doesn't want to. Escaping is the last thing on her mind as she kisses Elijah, allowing her tounge to slip into a delicate dance with his, none of them trying to gain the upper hand, they are just enjoying the feel of the kiss.

They hear the door go and Hayley pulls back to rest her forehead against his. She bites her bottom lip and smiles as she looks at his flawless face, his eyes still closed. She wishes that Rebekah could have taken longer to get their food; she isn't quite finished with Elijah yet. However, she knows they have all night to enjoy each other, so Hayley pushes it aside and moves to sit with her back against the cushions of the couch again.

Rebekah walks in with three plain, white bags containing their food.

"I tipped the woman extra because she was having a quiet night" Rebekah tells them.

"That's kind of you" Hayley says.

She puts one bag on Hayley's knee and the other on Elijah's knee.

"It was my good deed of the day" Rebekah says, smirking.

Hayley smiles and pulls the containers containing her Chinese food from the bag. She feels slightly excited as the smells of the food start to drift to her nose. She has been craving a Chinese recently. Rebekah sits down on the couch next to Hayley and starts to pull her food from the bag on her knee.

"Where is Marcel tonight?" Elijah asks.

"Went out with some friends... well, that's what he tells me" Rebekah says as she takes a bite from her soft spring roll.

"I am happy to have a word with him if he continues to be a bother to you" Elijah says.

Rebekah smiles.

"Thank you, Elijah, but I don't think he will listen to a lecture about cheating from you right now" the blonde says.

Hayley chuckles.

"She's right" Hayley says. "But if he plans to marry you and start a family with you then he needs to stop chasing girls."

Rebekah nods in agreement.

"He will stop chasing girls when he has a reason to stop chasing them. Apparently I am not a good enough reason" Rebekah says, eating another spring roll.

"You should be the only reason he needs" Elijah comments, stealing one of Hayley's egg rolls.

"Maybe if I was to get pregnant he would stop," Rebekah pauses. "I know I said I thought now was a bad time for a baby in the house, but maybe it will give him the kick up the ass he needs."

Hayley shakes her head, mouth too full for her to speak her mind.

"Don't become the couple who have a child to save their relationship, sister. Mother and father tried that and look at where is got them" Elijah says.

Hayley nods in agreement, mouth still full.

"I spoke to mother by the way" Rebekah tells them.

Elijah raises his eyebrows in shock.

"What did she say?"

"Just the usual. Told me we are grown ups and can deal with our own squabbles."

Elijah frowns, "did you tell her about Niklaus' behaviour and how he has dishonoured our family?"

Rebekah nods.

"She said to cut all ties with him, or continue to play his tiresome games. She basically made every excuse she could think of to not come and help us."

Elijah shakes his head in disappointment.

"I truly struggle to believe how unreliable our family can be sometimes" Elijah says, eating a piece of salt and pepper chicken.

"So, what now?" Hayley asks.

"We'll have to deal with him our way" Rebekah says.

"And what does that mean?" Hayley asks.

Rebekah smirks.

"Well, that depends on whether he continues to harass us or not" the blonde says.

"I'd rather we didn't resort to anymore violence, Rebekah. Enough damage has been done" Elijah says.

"Speak for yourself. I still have a bone to pick with that brother of ours" Rebekah says.

Elijah rolls his eyes and Hayley chuckles at him.

"Anyway, new subject before we all start ranting" Rebekah says. "What shall we watch?"

"I thought we was watching Titanic?" Hayley asks.

"Titanic isn't really an Elijah kind of film, darling" Rebekah says, smiling to herself.

"Not true at all, sister. I have seen the film and it is quite good. But there are plenty of better films out there."

"What film do you suggest then?" Hayley asks Elijah.

Elijah stops eating and sighs as he thinks about what film they could watch. Luckily Rebekah has an Amazon Firestick, therefore she can search any film she likes at anytime and watch it.

"How about we add a little horror to our night?" Elijah asks, smirking.

"A horror film, seriously?" Rebekah asks.

"The one I had in mind is more of a thriller than a horror" Elijah says.

Rebekah rolls her eyes.

"What is it?" The blonde asks.

"Better not be anything too scary" Hayley says.

Elijah smirks at her.

"I would have assumed a strong woman like you could handle a horror film" Elijah flirts.

"I can, I'm just worried about you. I'd hate for you to wet the bed later when you start having nightmares."

Elijah smirks at her and shakes his head in amusement.

"Well, what is it?" Rebekah asks.

"Sleepy Hollow."

"The one we watched with father with Johnny Depp in?"

"I'm surprised you remember it" Elijah says, an eyebrow raised.

"How could I forget when the headless horseman haunted my dreams for weeks after?" Rebekah asks rhetorically.

Elijah and Hayley chuckle.

"So, are we watching that?" Hayley asks.

"If we must" Rebekah says and reaches for the remote on the coffee table.

Rebekah clicks onto the Firestick TV option and starts to search for the film. Hayley leans in closer to Elijah, her mouth right next to his ear.

"We're going to bed after this" she whispers.

Elijah smirks.

"And why is that?" He asks, also whispering.

"You know why" Hayley replies and he chuckles.


	33. Chapter 33

Klaus walks into the extravagant hotel room that Kol had given him the address for and sees people everywhere. There are people dancing on the couches, there are people dancing on the dining table, there are people playing spin the bottle in one corner of the massive room, while in the other corner there are two girls making out. Klaus smirks and watches them for a second before remembering what he actually came here for.

Klaus walks through the room, taking a right down a long corridor full of people and checks the first room on the left. He sees a group of men sat on a bed with a half naked girl, all of them are talking to her and seem to be trying to force more drinks down her. One of the men looks over at Klaus and the smile that he was previously showing the girl on the bed drops instantly. Despite not being intimidated, Klaus takes the hint and continues down the corridor; he did not come here for a fight.

Klaus checks the next room he comes to which is on the right-hand side of the corridor. It's a bathroom and it is obvious that Kol is not there because the only people that are, is a man and a woman who are making out in the bathtub. Klaus smirks upon the sight before leaving the room. He continues to the next room and peaks his head around the half-open door to see three men sat on a bed injecting each other with a substance inside of a needle. He has no interest in drugs and quickly leaves.

He comes to the last room and pushes the half-open door all the way open to see Kol sat on a couch opposite two of his thugs, who are sat on a couch opposite him. There is a coffee table in between them with bottles of all kinds of alcohol and lines of cocaine on it. Klaus hesitates for a moment, wondering whether Kol has done a line. He then decides that his question is stupid because knowing Kol, he has probably done a lot more than just one line.

Klaus walks into the room and Kol looks up at him, with a sinister smile on his face.

"You didn't tell me you were coming, Nik" Kol says, reaching for a spare glass on the table to pour his brother a drink.

Klaus stops and stands next to the couch Kol is sat on.

"Thought I'd surprise you" he says, smirking.

"And you did just that. Take a seat, make yourself at home, brother."

Klaus sits on the couch next to Kol and puts one arm on the back of the couch. Kol hands him the glass, full of whatever liquid he has just poured into it. Klaus doesn't ask what it is, he just drinks it and is not surprised that he likes it. If it is alcoholic, he almost always likes it.

He looks opposite him at the two thugs. One of them is a large man, built like a brick wall, a mixture of muscle and fat. He is bald and has a piercing in his left eyebrow and in the left side of his nose. He has a faint stubble which makes him look rather unclean and dirty, and he has a cigar hanging from his mouth, a very illegal looking cigar. The second man is a lot slimmer than the other, but looks no weaker. From how his t-shirt clings to his arms and chest, Klaus can tell he is also a man made of muscle, just minus the fat that the first thug has. This man has short black hair and his stubble is slightly thicker than the others.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet my big brother, Klaus" Kol says and puts his hand on Klaus' shoulder for a few seconds. Klaus nods to the thugs. "And Klaus, there are my two most trusted, Robert" Kol points towards the slimmer man and he nods to Klaus. "And Tony", Kol then points towards the larger man, who also nods to Klaus.

"How do we know we can trust this guy?" Tony asks Kol, his voice is deep and thick just as Klaus expected.

Before Kol can answer, Klaus buts in, "any ally of my brothers is a ally of mine."

Kol smirks at his brother's answer.

"Ally is a strong word to use when we only just met, pal" Robert says as he cracks the knuckles on his left hand.

"You boys have nothing to worry about, my brother can be trusted" Kol says. "Besides, if my word is not enough for you to trust him, then that fact that he is already in both of your debt should be."

All three of them frown, unsure of what Kol is talking about. Klaus takes another sip from his drink, hoping that Kol is wrong and he owes these men nothing.

"We haven't done anything for him" Tony says and Kol smiles.

"You remember the man I told you to get some of the boys to jump a few nights ago?" Kol asks them. They both nod. "That was for Klaus. The boys were jumping him on behalf of my brother here."

"You got your own brother jumped?" Robert asks, not seeming too surprised.

"I'd love to explain it to you, boys, but it's family business" Kol says before leaning forwards to retrieve his own drink from the coffee table.

"It was a bust anyway" Tony says.

Kol frowns and takes a sip of his drink before asking, "what was a bust?"

"Beating up your other brother, it was a bust. He beat the boys black and blue, they didn't stand a chance" Tony answers.

Kol lets out an anger breath of air and lets his chin drop to his chest as he looks at the floor in anger. He usually wouldn't be this angry about something like this, he would just jump back up and try again, come back better. But the lines have gone to his head just like they always do and they have a tendency to mess with his worst emotions.

Klaus downs the rest of his drink in anger. When Kol had told him he would take care of Elijah, he had put all of his faith into his brother's words because he had never had a reason to doubt Kol before, so why would he now? What he did not anticipate was that Elijah would be able to take on his attackers without so much as to break a sweat.

Both brothers should have known that Elijah would be able to take care of himself. He always has been able to handle himself, why would that have changed. However, Kol told Klaus that he would help him get revenge and that is exactly what he will do, even if it means taking Elijah down for good.

Kol looks up and sighs as he runs a hand through his messy hair.

"Tail him" Kol says.

"Tail who?" Tony asks, reaching for his drink on the table.

"Who the bloody hell do you think I want you to tail?" Kol asks, aggressively.

"Elijah Mikaelson, you idiot" Robert says to Tony.

Tony nods, choosing to stay quiet after Kol's outburst.

"Want us to just tail him, or you got bigger plans for him?" Robert asks.

Kol smirks and looks at Klaus.

"What do you think, brother? What plans have we got in store for our beloved Elijah?" Kol asks.

Klaus also smirks his usual evil smirk and leans forwards to pour himself another drink. He pours himself a drink and then tops Kol's glass up before sitting back on the couch again. He takes a slow sip from his drink and looks over at Robert and Tony.

"I hope you two are making notes, because I have a lot of plans that I want executing to perfection" Klaus says.

Robert pulls his phone from his pocket and unlocks it. He types something into his phone and then turns the screen to Klaus and Kol to show them his notes page. Klaus chuckles and tilts his drink towards Robert in acknowledgement.

"Tail for as long as need be, learn his routines and then grab him. I don't care where you take him, but take him somewhere where no one will hear him scream, and then string him up to a wall" Klaus tells them.

"That all?" Robert asks as he types on his phone.

"Oh no, that's just the beginning" Klaus says, smirking. "Torture him if you feel up to it, hit him, kick him, cut him, scar him, I don't care what you do as long as you bring him pain."

Tony looks shocked and Kol chuckles as he takes a sip from his glass.

"Anything else?" Robert asks.

Klaus and Kol share a look and Klaus then turns back to Robert with an evil shimmer in his eyes.

"Grab my ex as well and chain her up. Give her a beating too, she deserves it" Klaus says.

"You're fucked up" Tony says.

Kol laughs and says, "you haven't seen anything yet, mate. This one's pure psycho."

Klaus smirks and downs his drink. He then leans forwards and puts the glass on the table before interlocking his fingers together and leaning forwards, his elbows on his knees.

"Preferably, I'd like her to be unable to fight back, so be sure to beat her hard" Klaus says.

"Got it" Robert says, nodding.

"Kol said you already owe us, so this will be a double pay up you have to make" Tony says.

Klaus nods his head.

"Fair enough. How does 20 grand sound to you... each?" Klaus asks.

Tony's eyes light up and he smiles at Klaus. However, before he has the chance to accept the offer, Robert speaks.

"That isn't how this shit works, pal."

"Then how does it work?" Klaus asks, looking as Robert with slight irritation.

Robert locks his phone and puts it back in his pocket.

"We do a job for you, you do a job for us. In this case, it's two" Robert explains.

Klaus was hoping he wouldn't have to get involved in anything like this, but he should have expected it would come to this. There's no way out once you're involved with a gang and unfortunately, he seems to already be in neck deep.

"What do you want me to do?" Klaus asks.

"There's a man called Harry Denmarth. Kol will give you all the information you need on him" Robert says.

"And what exactly am I to do with this Harry Denmarth?" Klaus asks, despite thinking he probably already knows the answer.

Robert smirks and answers, "kill him of course."

Klaus hides his inner fear and smirks back at Robert. He nods his head and turns to Kol. His younger brother doesn't seem phased by what is happening and if anything is giving Klaus a look of encouragement. Klaus nods his head again, he is definitely in neck deep.

"I'll let you know when it's done" Klaus says to Robert.

"Nice one, pal" he says.

Robert takes his drink from the coffee table and downs it in one. He then stands up and stretches, clicking his knuckles and his neck before looking at Kol.

"I'm off home, the wife will be waiting up" Robert says to Kol.

Kol smiles at him and holds his hand out out Robert. He takes Kol's hand and shakes it.

"It's been fun" Robert says.

Kol nods, "it sure has. I'll see you again sometime during the week."

"Sure will, pal."

Robert then takes his hand back from Kol's and pats Tony on the shoulder.

"See you around, Rob" Tony says.

Robert then walks past Tony and continues towards the door. He stops when he gets to the door and turns back, looking directly as Klaus. Robert smiles at him and pushes both of his hands into his pockets.

"Me and Tony will start on your girl and your brother when you put Harry to rest" Robert says.

"I better get started then" Klaus says, smirking.

Robert nods to Klaus and then leaves.

Klaus sighs and Kol pours them both another drink.

"Leave us, Tony. We have stuff we need to discuss" Kol says.

Tony downs his drink and puts the glass down on the coffee table. He then takes one last drag from his cigar before putting it out in the ashtray on the coffee table. He stands up and leaves them to it.

Kol hands Klaus a glass full to the brim and then takes a sip from his own glass. Klaus can sense that the conversation they are about to have is going to be very different to the one they just shared with Kol's thugs. The sudden tension in the room makes Klaus feel unusually uneasy. He is not scared of Kol, he never has been and he never will be, but right now he doesn't feel comfortable alone with him.

"Hayley is your ex now is she?" Kol asks.

"Her lawyer came around to the apartment with divorce papers" Klaus tells him.

"Did you sign them?" Kol asks before taking a sip from his glass.

Klaus also takes a sip from his drink.

"I argued with the lawyer, I threatened her, I did everything I shouldn't have done and then I signed them."

Kol shakes his head.

"You shouldn't have signed them, Nik. She is the cheat. She is the whore who did you wrong."

"Yes and what would have happened if I did not sign them? Her lawyer would have gone to a court and our marriage would have been annulled anyway. At least this way, she has what she wants and she can have some false happiness before she is taken and has everything ripped from her" Klaus says, gritting his teeth.

"What exactly is your plan with Hayley?" Kol asks.

"Like I said, I want her chained up and beaten. The rest will be taken care of when I get there."

"This almost sounds like a BDSM torture fetish" Kol jokes.

Klaus laughs and takes a sip from his drink.

"She will wish it was as easy as BDSM when I'm done with her" Klaus says.

Kol chuckles.

"You truly are evil, brother" Kol says.

He turns to look at Klaus.

"But I love it" Kol says and they both laugh.

A knock at the door makes both of them fall silent. They look up to see a young brown haired girl stood at the door. She looks no older than seventeen years old and is wearing a short skirt and a bra. She has a bust lip and a bruise by her right eye and from the make up running down her face, she has definitely been crying.

Kol puts his drink of this coffee table and stands up.

"Davina?"

The girl swallows nervously and wraps her arms around her body, trying to cover her chest. Kol walks to her slowly and she makes her way towards him too. When he reaches her he puts a hand on her cheek and looks at her bust lip.

"Who did this to you?" Kol asks.

"Thierry" the girl answers. "He said if I told you, he'd kill me."

Kol pulls her to his chest and holds her head there with one hand on the back of her head. She grips onto his shirt and looks at Klaus as she holds onto him. Klaus gives her a small smile, but gets nothing in return. He has no idea who this girl is, but he can tell that his brother is very smitten with her, which is something he has never seen from Kol before.

Kol pulls away from Davina to look at her face again. He runs a hand down her cheek and kisses her forehead.

"Go and have a bath, darling. I'll be in soon" he says against her forehead.

Davina nods and walks into the en-suite bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Kol sighs and looks at the door for a few seconds before returning to his seat next to Klaus.

"She's a pretty young thing" Klaus comments, hoping to get some information about her out of Kol.

Kol takes his drink from the coffee table and downs it. He then puts the glass back on the table and pours himself another one.

"Davina Claire. Her father was part of the crew, he died three years ago and I've been taking care of her since. However, her loyalty does not fully lie with us, hence the markings on her face."

"And when you say taking care of her, you mean fucking her?" Klaus asks, smirking because he knows he is right.

"What can I say, she was heartbroken and vulnerable, and I was looking for some pleasure" Kol says, also smirking.

"How old is she?" Klaus asks, taking a sip from his glass.

"Seventeen next month" Kol answers.

Klaus looks at Kol, slightly shocked by his brother.

"Kol, you're twenty-four years old."

"I know how old I am, Klaus."

"There has never been much room for arguing between me and you, brother, but if this must be an argument then that is what it will be because this needs to be said" Klaus says, clenching his glass a bit tighter than before.

"Say your piece then" Kol says, angrily.

Klaus takes a sip from his drink.

"She is a child, Kol and you are very much a man. I am nowhere close to being a good person, I have done terrible things and I still will after today, but to be having relations with a child... don't you think that is taking things slightly too far?"

"I haven't forced her into anything. Besides, age is just a number. After your relations with Katherine when you were younger you shouldn't be bothered by what I do with Davina" Kol says.

Klaus clenches his teeth, trying not to snap at his brother.

"Things with Katherine were different" he says, trying to keep his anger under control.

"Were they really? Because from what I remember, you were just a child and she was a few months off becoming eighteen" Kol says, turning slightly to look at Klaus.

"It was a mutual understanding and the age gap was barely noticeable" Klaus says, not backing down.

"Oh I don't know about that, Nik. I'd say four years is pretty noticeable."

"Kol, the age gap between you and that girl in there is eight years, double what the gap between me and Katherine was. I don't think you have any right to comment."

Kol glares at his brother for a minute before he smirks. He then chuckles and shakes his head before downs his drink. He then stands up and puts his glass down on the coffee table.

"You can let yourself out, I have things to attend to" Kol says before walking towards the en-suite.

Klaus downs his drink and puts the glass on the coffee table next to Kol's glass.

Kol stops at the door to the bathroom and turns back to his brother.

"I'll text your the details on Harry tomorrow" he says and Klaus nods. "Just so you know, once you do this, you'll be one of us. They will come to you for things, they will expect things... and if you can't pay up, well..."

"I know how it works" Klaus says.

Kol smiles evilly and then enters the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and leaving Klaus alone. Klaus leans forwards and runs his hands over his face and through his curly hair. He can feel how drastically his life is about to change and he has no idea what to do about it, or how to handle it.

Klaus stands up and looks down at the coffee table. He picks up a full bottle off the table, he has no idea what is in it because there is no label on the bottle, but he takes it anyway. He'll need something to help drown out the feel of his first kill.


	34. Chapter 34

Hayley yawns as Elijah pulls into the parking space he has claimed as his own outside of Rebekah's house. They have had a fantastic night at a local restaurant, which served five courses and the finest wine money can buy. The night did not end once they left the restaurant though. Elijah then took her to a live music bar, where they sat and spoke while listening to the amazing melodies of a very talented jazz band. Hayley has never been fond of jazz music, but it is safe to say that tonight might have changed her opinion.

And now, she is exhausted.

Elijah unbuckles his seat belt and looks over at Hayley, a small smile rising on his lips. She always looks unbelievably beautiful, but tonight she looks especially exquisite. Her thigh length, silver dress matches her black heels and black handbag perfectly and as always the dress clings to her body in all of the right places. This is definitely one of the most captivating numbers he has seen her pull off yet. She is practically glowing.

Hayley returns his gaze and gives him a tired, but genuine smile. His smile widens before he opens his car door and climbs out of his vehicle. Hayley sighs out of tiredness and also unbuckles her seat belt. Elijah opens the door for her and she picks her handbag up off the floor before climbing out. Elijah shuts the door and locks his car, he then wraps his arm around Hayley's waist and they start to walk to the front door together.

"How did you find tonight?" Elijah asks, his hand settling on her hip.

"It was brilliant. Thank you for everything, I loved it" Hayley says, folding her arms across her chest as a cold wind blows and makes her shiver slightly.

"What was your favourite part of the night?" He asks, because he loves hearing her voice.

Hayley smiles as she thinks back to her favourite part of the night.

"My favourite part of the night was when the waiter brought that chocolate fudge cake with our initials on it and the little sparkler things."

Elijah smiles, "that wasn't actually available on the menu."

"You put in a special request?" Hayley asks, smiling.

"Kind of" Elijah says, smirking. "I told them it was our wedding anniversary."

Hayley laughs and leans further into his body as they reach the front door. She could very easily imagine herself being married to Elijah. She turns to face him and puts one hand on his hard, firm chest as she leans up to kiss him. Her lips meet his and his arm wraps tightly around her waist, pulling her body into his. Hayley smiles against his lips and goes in for a second kiss.

When she pulls away slowly, Elijah smirks down at her before moving to open the front door. He puts his hand on the door handle and reaches into his pocket for the key, but the door opens when he pushes the handle down slightly. He pushes the door open slightly and looks into the hallway. He can't see any signs of a break in and yet knows he locked the door when they left because Rebekah had told him she and Marcel would be out all night.

Hayley feels the change in Elijah's demeanour and gently puts her hand on his shoulder blade.

"You okay?" Hayley asks, cautiously.

Elijah stays silent for a few seconds, still looking into the hallway, before he quietly says, "I know I locked the door before we left the house."

A slight panic shoots through Hayley's body, along with a shiver from another, stronger gust of wind. She also knows that Elijah locked the door before they came out because she asked him if he had locked it when they were on their way to the restaurant, seconds after they had set off. His answer was yes and she believed him. She still does believe him.

"Do you think someone's in there?" Hayley asks, moving her hand to Elijah's bicep and gripping it tightly.

"I think they would have showed themselves by now if anyone was inside" Elijah says.

Hayley nods, he is probably right. She still doesn't ease her grip on his arm though.

Elijah pushes the door fully open and takes a step inside. He looks to his left into the living room and sees nothing, he then looks to his right into the kitchen and sees nothing again. He considers going down the hallway to check the other room, but he doubts he needs to; that door has a lock on it anyway which only Marcel and Rebekah have the key to. And from what he can see, the lock is still intact.

He turns to look at Hayley and she nods, encouraging him to go on. Elijah wastes no time, he walks straight up the stairs and starts checking rooms one by one. Hayley does not go upstairs. Instead, she goes into the kitchen, drops her handbag next to the sink and grabs a knife. If Klaus has broken in and is waiting for her, there is no way that she is going to let him hurt her again. Leaning against the kitchen counter, she waits for Elijah, knife in hand.

Elijah comes back downstairs and Hayley sees him go into the living room to double check it. He then walks out of the living room and looks into the kitchen at Hayley, a puzzled look on his face. He slowly shuts the front door and then makes his way into the kitchen. He spots the knife in her hand and before he comments, she quickly chucks it into the sink behind her.

"Maybe I didn't lock it" Elijah says, coming to stand a few feet away from her.

"You were sure you did when we left though" Hayley says.

"Yes, but that was before I came home to find the door unlocked" he says, rubbing his forehead in confusion.

"Don't blame yourself, Elijah. As far as we know, Rebekah and Marcel could have come back because they forgot something, and then they didn't lock it."

Elijah lets out a deep breath and nods.

"Even though that is highly unlikely, I suppose that is the best explanation we have right now" Elijah says. Then adding, "unless I did just forget to lock it."

Hayley rolls her eyes and moves forwards, closing the gap in between them. She wraps her arms around his waist and looks up into his honest and kind hazel eyes. He looks back with wonder and affection and she could honestly be perfectly happy falling into his eyes and drowning right now.

"Nothing happened. Nothing was stolen and nobody got hurt, so you have nothing to worry about" she says, comfortingly.

Elijah nods again and his hands slowly find her hips, resting there lightly.

Hayley smirks as she says, "maybe your age is getting to you and you did forget."

Elijah smiles at her joke and raises an eyebrow at her.

"I wasn't aware 30 was old" Elijah says, playing along with her.

Hayley nods jokingly, "oh yeah, very old."

Elijah chuckles and pulls her body flush against his as they sway slightly. He moves one of his hands to her face and cups her cheek in his palm tenderly. He then kisses her gently and lovingly, treating her as if she was a china plate that could be broken with even the most delicate of touches. Hayley kisses him back, always happy and eager to accept the feel of his lips against hers.

Elijah's hand moves from her cheek to her hair, tangling in her soft, curly locks of brown. He uses his light grip on her hair to angle her mouth how he wants it, allowing him to deepen their kiss and also giving him the perfect opportunity to flick his tounge against her bottom lip, teasingly. Hayley pushes her body closer to his when she feels his tounge skim her lip and she opens her mouth, inviting him in. He accepts her invitation.

Hayley moves her hands from the back of his waist, smoothing them around to settle just above the belt buckle on his pants. She then pushes her hands up his stomach, over his chest and takes one lapel of his jacket in each hand. She starts moving backwards. pulling Elijah with her until her back hits the fridge. The change in position also results in a change in their kisses. They become frantic and needy, desperate and lead by lust, but none of them mind. It is obvious that they are both craving this.

There are suddenly too many clothes in the way and Hayley pushes Elijah's jacket off his shoulders and yanks it down his arms, not caring that they are in Rebekah's kitchen. Elijah pulls his jacket off fully and throws it on the floor, neither have any idea where it is and neither care. Elijah then quickly puts his hands back onto Hayley's hips as he pushes her against the fridge with his body, making sure that he can feel her against him as his tounge invades her mouth again.

Hayley places one hand on his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart under her palm. She puts her other hand on his thigh and slowly moves it up over his waist, his stomach and onto the opposite side of his chest to her other hand. Her hands then meet in the middle of his chest and quickly start to undo his buttons as quickly as she can.

Elijah's hands roam up and down her sides and he finally tears his mouth from hers, only to move down to her neck. He kisses her neck with open mouth kisses and Hayley can not help but stop what she is doing, throw her head back against the fridge and let out a breathless sigh. She has been cleansed of her tiredness and now wants something much better than sleep.

Hayley yanks the bottom of Elijah's shirt out from his pants and quickly opens the last button. Elijah drags his shirt off and throws it onto the floor with his jacket, more important things on his mind than how much ironing it will take to straighten out his shirt tomorrow. He smooths his hands round to the back of her thighs and lifts her. Hayley slips her feet out of her high heels and lets Elijah lift her so she can wrap her legs around his waist. His hands move to her backside, gripping it tightly and her dress gathers around her waist.

Elijah's lips claim Hayley's once again as he turns them and takes the few steps necessary to reach the dining table. He then lies Hayley down on the table and pushes his groin against hers. Hayley moans into his mouth and he does it again, desperate for the friction and pleasure that the motion is creating.

Hayley suddenly pushes Elijah off of her and he kneels in between her legs. She sits up and drags her dress up over her head as quickly as she can before she attacks his mouth with hers and pulls him back down onto her. Elijah pushes her dress off the table and grinds against Hayley's core again, causing her to moan again. He could do this all day just to hear her make that sweet sound.

Hayley then drags her nails gently down Elijah's back to the back of his belt. She then tucks her fingers inside of his pants and drags them right around to the front of them, stopping when she feels the coolness of his belt buckle. She yanks it open and slides it out before popping open the button on his pants, and dragging down his zipper. Elijah's mouth leaves hers as she pushes her hand into his pants and wraps it around his hard member. He lets out a low groan and lets out a deep breath as she starts to rub him through his underwear. He then moves his lips to her collarbone, kissing along it before moving lower to her right breast.

Elijah kisses the part of her breast that is not covered by her bra and Hayley bites her lip harshly. She pulls her hand from inside of his pants and uses her feet to push his pants down from his hips. Elijah gets the message and kicks off his shoes before he drags his pants down with one hand until they reach his ankles. He then kicks them onto the floor, the sound of his belt buckle hitting the floor barely being able to be heard for their heavy breathing.

He then continues to kiss down her body, kissing in a line down her stomach. When he reaches her belly button, he whips out his tounge and licks around it twice before licking right down to the top of her knickers. Hayley moans and bites her lip as Elijah's tounge dips into her underwear, stopping right before actually touching her. He then gets up off of her and quickly pulls her knickers down her luxuriously long legs. He then throws them onto the floor and is instantly back on top of her, grinding his hardness against her now naked core. Hayley moans quietly as a strong pleasure starts to build up in her stomach.

Hayley moves one of her hands to the back of Elijah's head and she tugs on the small hairs there. He growls slightly into her mouth and the sound turns her on even more. He continues to grind himself against her as he cups one of her breasts with his hand. His other hand being used to support his weight above her. Hayley moves her other hand down Elijah's back and into his boxers, getting a firm grip on his backside. She then pushes him harder against her core and they both moan at the new intense friction.

Not being able to take not feeling her for a second more, Elijah moves his hand from her breast and down to his boxers. He quickly drags them down his legs, his lips leaving Hayley's for a few seconds, and he then kicks them off. He quickly rejoins their lips as his hardness touches her entrance. Hayley moans against his lips and brings one hand to his face, holding his lips against hers.

Elijah then runs his hand right down Hayley's body, grazing over her core and making her gasp before he wraps his hand around his length. Hayley opens her legs wider, practically begging him to take her. He rubs his tip up and down her entrance, gently teasing her and making her moan quite loudly into his mouth. He then pushes into her, causing them both to pull back from their kiss and moan as he drives himself as deep as he can go inside of her.

Hayley puts her hand on the back on Elijah's head and pulls his lips back to hers, kissing him passionately and desperately as he pulls half way out of her, and then pushes back in. Elijah sets a steady pace, never stopping the movement of his hips. Stopping for even a second is not an option when they are both this worked up anyway.

Hayley places one hand on his backside again and pushes him straight back into her every time he pulls out. Elijah assumes this means she wants him to go faster and follows her command, thrusting into her at a quicker and slightly rougher pace. Hayley moans and pushes back against him so that she gets every possible bit of pleasure that she can. Elijah suddenly changes his angle slightly and starts to rub over Hayley's G-spot. She moans quietly and throws her head back against the table and Elijah continues to hit that magical spot inside of her.

Elijah moves his lips to her neck and kisses his way downwards, whipping his tounge out to flick against her neck as he kisses it. He stops when he reaches her collarbone and kisses it before he bites down gently. Hayley groans and uses her hand on his backside to push him even deeper into her. Elijah moans against her soft skin and bites down harder as he starts to feel his release building up inside of him. The bite hurts, but Hayley finds herself liking the pain.

Hayley moves her hand from his backside and grabs onto his shoulder blades with both hands. She then wraps her legs tightly around his waist and clenches her inner walls around his hardness as he continues to push in and out of her. Elijah moans loudly against the skin of her neck as she clenches around him. He continues to push into her and she continues to clench her walls around him every time he does. He is certain that she is trying to drive him mad.

Elijah picks up the speed of his thrusts once again, knowing that Hayley is close to her orgasm from the sound of her breathing and her moans. He brings his lips to hers again and runs his tounge over hers. She moans into his mouth and digs her finger nails into his shoulder blades as her release starts to creep up on her. She tenses and clenches around his length, drags him deep inside of her with her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she desperately fights for her release.

Elijah suddenly starts grinding against her with every thrust and after just a few more pushes, Hayley reaches her climax. She closes her eyes tightly and moans, both of her hands grabbing the back of Elijah's head and pulling it down to her shoulder. Two more thrusts and Elijah also reaches his climax, continuing to push into Hayley as he empties himself into her with a groan against her shoulder.

They remain in that position, Hayley's legs tangled around Elijah's waist, not so tightly anymore however, Elijah's head resting against her shoulder as he pants to regain his breath. Hayley finally opens her eyes and looks up at the kitchen ceiling. They just had sex on the kitchen table. They just had sex on Rebekah's kitchen table... and Hayley doesn't regret it in the slightest. She smiles to herself and wraps her arms a bit tighter around Elijah's neck.

"We just had sex on Rebekah's kitchen table" Hayley whispers into his ear.

Elijah chuckles and she smiles. She loves it when she makes him laugh. He kisses her shoulder and leans on his elbows to look at her face. The most beautiful face he has ever seen. He strokes a stray piece of hair out of her face and smiles down at her.

"We should do it again sometime" Elijah says, flirtatiously.

"Knowing my luck, next time we'll get caught" Hayley says, smiling at him.

Elijah raises an eyebrow and smirks, "so, there is going to be a next time?"

Hayley laughs and pulls his face to hers, resting her forehead against his.

"Maybe" she says, seductively.

Elijah gives her a wicked half grin and in one swift motion, he is stood up with her in his arms, her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Hayley laughs and hugs his head against her chest as he starts to walk, his member still inside of her.

"What are you doing?" Hayley asks in between laughs.

"Taking you to bed" Elijah answers. "I'm not quite done with you yet."

Hayley laughs even more. She wasn't even that tired anyway.


	35. Chapter 35

The song 'Beautiful' by Bazzi plays loudly through Hayley's head phones and into her ears as she ties her shoe lace at the bottom of the stairs. She has spent the last few weeks off schedule and she thinks that is about time she gets back on it, starting today with her weekly run. She finishes tying one shoe lace and moves onto the other, nodding her head along to her new favourite song.

Jack trots over to her with his lead in his mouth, dragging it along the floor to her. Hayley looks up at the Husky as he comes to sit directly in front of her. She reaches out and runs her fingers through his fluffy fur with a smile on her face. She takes one earphone out of her ear and takes the lead from him, clipping it onto his collar.

"I'm sorry I've been slacking recently, Jack" Hayley says, stroking his chest. "Things are going to start going back to normal now and that means me and you going for walks everyday."

Jack wags his tail at the word walk and Hayley smiles at him. He shuffles closer to her, moving in between her legs and nuzzles at her stomach. Hayley frowns and chuckles, she has no idea what he is doing, but she is finding it amusing. He then looks up at her and licks her chin before he barks, and makes his way to sit by the door. Hayley stands up and straightens her running top just as the front door opens to reveal Elijah.

He shuts the door behind him and strokes Jack's head. The dog wags his tail, happy to see Elijah is home.

"Hey" Elijah says to Jack.

He then looks up at Hayley and is about to speak when he notices what she is wearing. Her running gear. Alarm bells start to go off in his head and he immediately tries to think of any way possible to put her off going out at seven at night for a run. However, he knows that nothing he can come up with will stop her from going out. She has her own mind and will do as she pleases. But that doesn't mean he can't try.

"How's everything at the office coming along?" Hayley asks him, pulling her other earphone out of her ear.

"Good I suppose. I've already got two clients who want to start sessions next week, so everything shall soon be running smoothly" he replies. He then wastes no time in asking, "where are you going?"

"For a run" Hayley says.

Elijah goes to say something, but stops and Hayley knows that he is about to disagree with her on something.

"What is it?" Hayley asks, moving closer to him.

Elijah remains silent for a few seconds, trying to find the right words as to not make Hayley feel like he is arguing with her. He doesn't want to argue, he just wants to look out for her and keep her safe.

"I don't think that going for a run at night time is a wise idea after recent events" he finally says.

Hayley frowns, "you mean Klaus?"

"Well, he is hardly one to lie down and accept defeat" Elijah says.

"Elijah, it's almost over. Just another week, or two and Cami will call me telling me I am officially divorced. Then we can get started with our life together properly. We can go on that holiday and do whatever the hell we want."

Elijah sighs.

"Somehow I doubt everything will be as easy as it sounds" he says.

Hayley puts her hand on his bicep and squeezes, wanting to comfort him.

"It won't be easy, but we'll get there" she says, giving him a small smile.

Elijah nods.

"I still don't think it is safe for you to go out by yourself at this time" he says.

"I'm a grown woman and I have a big dog, I'll be fine" she replies, grateful for his concern, but wishing he would just let her go.

"Something could still happen" he says.

Hayley can feel a slight pang of anger working it's way through her body.

"Elijah, seriously, I will be okay. Go and relax, I'll be back soon" Hayley says and picks up Jack's lead.

He sighs and moves from in front of the door. He isn't going to try and physically stop her from leaving, he would never force her to do anything. He just wishes she would stay home for tonight.

"You could always go tomorrow when it's light" he tries one last time.

And one last time seems to be all it takes for Hayley to get mad.

"Elijah, stop. I want to go for a run right now, so I am going to go for a run right now. Besides, Jack needs to get out" Hayley says.

"Hayley-"

She quickly cuts him off, "whatever you're gonna say can wait until later". And then she is gone out of the door.

Elijah sighs and rubs his hand over his forehead. Maybe he could have approached the subject better, then maybe she would not have gotten angry. There is no point fretting over it however, he has work to do for next week. All he can do now, is wait for her to return home, cook her a lovely meal, run her a hot bubble bath and ask for forgiveness. He has a feeling that doing all of that will make it incredibly hard for her to hate him.

Meanwhile, Hayley and Jack reach the park near Rebekah's house. It is extremely dark in the park tonight and there is a very eerie feel to it. She tries not to think about it, more than likely it is just Elijah's words getting to her. Rebekah's neighbourhood is renown for how safe and friendly it is, so surely it is just all in her head.

She starts her jog around the park, trying to blow off the steam she just worked up. Jack jogs besides her, his tounge hanging out of his mouth, flopping around in the air and making him look silly. As she makes her way down the path and around the park, Hayley decides that it isn't actually scary at all. The eerie feeling she was getting before was just her mind playing tricks on her, she has nothing to worry about.

Hayley reaches into the pocket of her tight fitted jogging pants and clicks the play button to restart her music. Now that she feels comfortable in the park, she sees no reason why she should jog in silence. Her favourite playlist starts playing and she starts to jog a bit quicker, jogging to the rhythm of the music pounding through her.

She knows that Elijah means well and she probably could have been a lot nicer to him about going for a run. She most definitely should have been nicer to him after everything he has done for her in the last few weeks. After all, he has been nothing but nice to her, so what right does she have to lose her temper over something as small and unimportant as when she is going to go for a run.

She decides she will apologise when she gets home. He deserves that at the very least.

She is falling for him harder and harder everyday and it is really starting to scare her. She keeps finding herself wanting to tell him that she loves him, but surely it's too soon. They have known each other for not even half a year and she wants to say those three small, but heavy words already... unbelievable. She has never fell this fast for anyone before and that makes her think that maybe he is the person she should have held out for, not Klaus. All those years she refused to get into a relationship because she wanted to meet someone special, and then she settled for Klaus. Out of all people she could settle for, she settled for an abuser with a bad alcohol problem.

Typical Hayley thing to do.

Jack suddenly slams on his breaks and Hayley almost goes flying backwards with the force her arm is pulled back with. She turns to look at him, confused as to why he has stopped. She looks forwards and sees nothing on the path up ahead that could of put him off. She turns back to look at Jack and as far as she can see, there is nothing physically wrong with him either.

Hayley takes her earphones out and crouches in front of him. He is continuous looking around the park and she wonders if maybe he heard another dog enter the park, or heard a bird in the trees that spooked him. She strokes his head and runs her fingers to his ear, tickling and scratching it just how he likes it.

"What's wrong, Jack? Are you scared?" She asks him, quietly.

The dog still refuses to meet her gaze, so she gently takes his face in her hands and pulls his face around to look at her. His eyes look sad and worried and it makes Hayley's heart hurt to see that look on his face. She kisses his wet nose and tickles both of his ears at the same time to try and comfort him.

"What is it?" She asks him, despite knowing he will not answer her.

Suddenly she hear a snapping sound. It sounds like someone has just stood on a twig to purposely make a sound and alert her. She has seen this thing in movies too many times and is about to get up and run back to the entrance of the park, when another dog walker comes out from behind the bushes. He has a small Poodle in his arms and does not look happy with the dog. Hayley feels relief wash over her and the man looks over to her.

"Good evening" he says, giving her a smile.

"Good evening" Hayley says in return.

"Careful if you're going to let your dog off the lead. There is a cat in those bushes, the second my little one here saw it, he was gone" the man explains.

Hayley smiles and says, "thanks, I'll keep an eye out."

The man nods to her and clips the Poodle back onto its lead before he sets off walking towards the entrance. Hayley tickles behind Jack's ear again and smiles out of amusement. Jack probably heard the man rustling in the bushes trying to get his dog back and that spooked him out, Hayley would not of heard it because she had her music playing.

"See, nothing to be scared of" Hayley says to Jack.

He makes a small whining sound and she chuckles.

"Stop being such a baby, come on, we'll just go a little further and then go home" she tells him.

Hayley stands up and is about to set off when she hears a loud bang. She has no idea where the noise came from, but panic shoots through her body. That sounded just like a gunshot. Hayley pulls Jack a bit closer to her by his lead and looks towards where she thinks the sound came from. The banging sound goes off again, but this time she sees exactly what it is. A blue firework erupts in the sky miles away from where she is and she shakes her head.

Elijah's words really must have gotten to her because every little thing she hears is freaking her out. Despite feeling like she hasn't been out long enough, she has definitely had enough frights in the last two minutes to last her. She is about to take a step forwards when everything goes black. She feels herself falling into pitch blackness and the last thing she hears is Jack barking, growling and snarling, followed by a loud scream.

Two hours later, Elijah exits the bathroom, towel around his waist and a towel in his hand as he dries off his hair. He is about to walk into his room when he hears Rebekah shout his name from the living room. He makes his way downstairs and into the living room where she is stood by the window, her arms folded while she nibbles on her nails nervously.

"What is it?" He asks, drying the back of his head.

"Do you know what time it is?" She asks him, seemingly annoyed.

Elijah checks the clock on the wall and suddenly realises why she is acting the way she is. It's half past nine and none of them have heard anything from Hayley. Surely by now she would be home, her runs are usually one about an hour long, maybe just over.

"Has she rang at all?" Elijah asks, clear worry in his voice.

Rebekah shakes her head.

"I haven't spoken to her since this morning when we went food shopping" Rebekah replies. "Risking sounding a little dramatic her, but unless she is running to China she should be back by now."

Elijah nods in agreement.

"What do we do then? Call the police?" Rebekah asks, trying to ease her nerves for Elijah's sake.

Elijah says silent. He drapes the towel he was using to dry his hair over the arm of the couch and sighs. He has no idea what to do. They could go and look for her themselves, but that very rarely ever works out for anyone in the movies, so why would it work out for them... it wouldn't. Calling the police does seem like the best thing to do, but there is no proof yet that she is in trouble, or missing. Unfortunately, it seems like there is nothing they can do right now.

"Did you not hear me, or are you just being rude?" Rebekah asks, dragging him from his thoughts. "What do we do, Elijah?"

Elijah scratches the back of his head and sighs.

"The police won't class her as a missing person until it's been 24 hours since she left the house, therefore they are no help. We could go and search for her ourselves, but where would we even begin?" Elijah asks, questioning himself more than his sister.

"Surely she won't have ran too far at this time of night" Rebekah says, trying to ease her brother and failing once again.

"I wouldn't be too sure" Elijah says, thinking back to her storming out.

"Well, I'm going to look for her even if you aren't" Rebekah says, making her way towards the front door.

Elijah knows they won't find anything if they go out and look, but the thought of doing nothing kills him. He has to help, even if that means searching the entire state. He hears the sound of Rebekah opening the door.

"Wait" Elijah says.

Rebekah pauses in the doorway, her phone in her hand as she gets ready to call Marcel and tell him to come home to help. The next number on her speed dial after that being Hayley's.

"I'll get dressed and come with you" he says, fighting to remain calm right now.

Rebekah nods to herself and clicks dial on Marcel's number. She puts the phone up to her ear as it starts to ring.

"Be quick" Rebekah says, less demanding than usual.

Elijah grabs his towel from the couch and makes his way upstairs. As he shuts his bedroom door behind him, he starts to realise that this is all his fault. If he hadn't of made her angry then maybe she would have agreed with him and saved her run for tomorrow. They could have stayed in and watched a film, or they could have ordered take out and relaxed together. But instead, he made her mad and she left.

He lets the back of his head fall against the door and closes his eyes. He could hit himself now for being so stupid, but he doesn't have time for that, he doesn't have time to wallow in self pity. He opens his eyes, pushes off his door and makes his way for his wardrobe. He will find Hayley, even if it takes all night.


	36. Chapter 36

After just over an hour of searching the neighbourhood for Hayley, both Elijah and Rebekah are starting to lose hope. Rebekah is pretty sure Elijah lost all hope the minute the clock struck ten, but he hasn't given up yet and she doubts he will until Hayley is found and sat safely at home. Rebekah has been strongly considering phoning the police for the last twenty minutes, but what her brother said before is correct, the police won't see her as a missing person until she has been missing for 24 hours. Therefore they won't help.

Rebekah sighs loudly and checks her phone again. Still no calls from Hayley, or Marcel. She sent him out in the car to look for Hayley, but he hasn't got back to her since. To be honest, she doesn't expect Marcel to phone her if he finds Hayley, he never really uses his phone even when he genuinely needs to. In fact, it wouldn't surprise her if they go home and he is sat there watching TV with Hayley acting as if nothing has happened. However, she knows that this is not the case because she knows Hayley would have phoned by now.

Rebekah turns to see her brother pacing on the sidewalk. Her brother is always very good at hiding his emotions, but he has never been good at hiding his panic when his loved ones are in danger. This is one of them times when Elijah just can not hide his fear.

"We'll find her, Elijah. She'll be okay" Rebekah says, hoping to comfort her brother.

It does not seem to work.

"Where else could she be? We have searched the entire neighbourhood" he says, more to himself than Rebekah.

A loud bark echos through the streets and Rebekah turns to where the sound is coming from, but sees nothing. She turns back to look at Elijah, still pacing. She could suggest they check near the shops again, but she doubts they will find anything new. She could suggest they go home and wait for Hayley, but she doubts she will be able to drag a worrying Elijah home. They could search the park again, but she doubts they will find anything new there either.

Another bark sounds out, closer this time. Rebekah ignores it.

"He must have her" Elijah suddenly says, and they both know he is referring to Klaus.

"We don't know that" Rebekah says.

"Why else would she be gone for this long without contacting us?" He asks, anger lacing his voice.

"Maybe her phone died" Rebekah says, despite not believing that herself.

Another bark, closer yet again.

"That is extremely unlikely" Elijah says.

"We can't be sure of anything, Elijah, not yet anyway. It has only been a couple of hours" she says, hoping and praying he will calm down a bit.

Elijah stops pacing and stares at his sister. She can tell by the look on his face that he has definitely not calmed down.

"A lot can happen in a few hours, Rebekah" he says, fear lacing his tone now as his own words scare him. Because he is right. A hell of a lot can happen in a few minutes, never mind a few hours.

A very loud bark sounds out and Rebekah turns around to see Jack running from the dark side of the park. Her heart instantly drops to her stomach because despite how safe her neighbourhood is, everyone has heard the bad stories about what use to happen in the dark side of the park and if that is where Hayley was walking Jack, then who knows what has happened to her.

Elijah starts walking towards Jack straight away, meeting him halfway and crouching to the floor. The dog does not wag his tail and does not look like his usual happy self. Elijah grabs his leash and strokes him gently. Rebekah comes to stand next to Elijah and looks down at the dog. She can see blood on his fur and her heart drops to her stomach once again.

"Elijah... he has blood on his fur" Rebekah points out.

Elijah looks at the blood and runs his fingers over the patch of red fur, checking it isn't the dog's blood. When he is satisfied that it is not Jack's blood, he stands up and looks towards where Jack has just come from.

"We checked the park before" he states.

"We didn't check the dark side of the park" Rebekah tells him and he turns to look at her, anger in his eyes.

"And you are just telling me this now?" He asks.

"I didn't think Hayley would go to that side of the park. It is literally pitch black, I thought she might have more sense than to go that way" Rebekah says.

"Regardless of what you thought, we should have checked there earlier" he says and she knows he is right.

"Then stop wasting time having a go at me and come check it out with me" Rebekah says, getting a bit angry herself.

Elijah sets off walking towards the entrance to the dark side of the park, Rebekah following closely behind and Jack tugging him forwards. He knows Jack is a very smart dog and right now he is more than happy to let Jack lead him wherever he wants to go; chances are he will lead him to Hayley.

After following Jack down a very dark and very long path, they finally come to see two bodies lay on the floor. Elijah lets go of Jack's leash and he sets off running towards the bodies. Elijah and Rebekah also set off running and as they get closer they can see that one of the bodies is Hayley. Jack skids to a halt at Hayley's side and licks her face before looking up at Elijah as he reaches them and lets out a quiet whine.

Elijah instantly crouches down and puts his hand on Hayley's neck, feeling for a pulse. He finds one and closes his eyes as he lets out a sigh of relief. He pushes a stray piece of hair from her face and tucks it behind her ear, his touch extra gentle.

"Please tell me she's okay" Rebekah says, out of breath.

"As far as I can tell" Elijah says, stroking Hayley's cheek.

Rebekah looks over to the man lay on the floor nearby, who also seems to be unconscious. She moves closer to him and squints to see bloody wounds on his arms and one right in between his neck and shoulder. They look like bite marks and Rebekah turns around to see Jack glaring at the man.

"Jack wouldn't have attacked him for nothing, he must have attacked Hayley" Rebekah says her thoughts out loud.

Elijah looks over at the man.

"She's lucky to have such a loyal dog" Elijah says, quietly.

"He's certainly one of the good ones" Rebekah says, putting her hand lightly on the dog's back.

Elijah carefully puts his arms under Hayley's thighs and back before he lifts her into his arms. He stands up and takes a step closer to Rebekah. The blonde gently puts her hand on Hayley's head and smiles sadly. At least her friend is safe, even if she is hurt. She looks back down at Jack to see him glaring down at the attacker, not letting his guard down for even a second after everything he has already seen his owner go through.

Elijah also looks down at the attacker and from the look in his eyes, Rebekah knows that he is not coming home with her tonight. She has seen that look in her brother's eyes before and she knows that it never ends well.

Elijah looks at Rebekah once again and asks, "do you think you could carry her?"

Rebekah gives her brother a worried look.

"Please don't do this, Elijah" she says, despite knowing he has already made up his mind.

"This is not a discussion, Rebekah. Can you carry her, or not?"

Rebekah stays silent for a second, considering saying no. She then sighs because she knows that either way Elijah will find a way to get Hayley home and punish the man who attacked her.

"We don't exactly do heavy lifting in yoga, but I could give it a go" she says.

"Thank you" Elijah says, and she can tell that he really means it.

"I would say anytime, but that is not an offer I want you to take advantage of" she says, trying to lighten the mood.

Elijah does not laugh, or smile at her joke, but she knows that in any other situation he would of done. She can settle for that right now considering the circumstances. Slowly and carefully, Elijah lowers Hayley into her arms and she is actually quite surprised with how much Hayley weighs when she is literally one of the skinniest girls Rebekah has ever met. Or maybe Rebekah is just not as strong as she used to be.

Regardless of the immediate ache in her arms, Rebekah takes Hayley and starts to walk home. Elijah watches them walk away for a few seconds before he looks down to see Jack stood next to him. He pulls a pair of black gloves from his jacket pocket and the dog looks up at him, tilting his head slightly to the left.

"Go" Elijah tells him, nodding his head to the direction of the exit. "You're not going to want to see what happens next."

Jack doesn't understand the second part of what Elijah said, but he knows what 'go' means and as always he follows his instructions. He also doesn't want to be too far from Hayley right now after what happened, so listening to Elijah seems logical. He nuzzles Elijah's leg with his nose once and sets off in the direction of home, trotting quickly to catch up with Rebekah.

Elijah watches him trot away and pulls on the black gloves. He then pulls his phone out of his pants pocket, turns it on silent and puts it on the inside pocket of his jacket. He removes his watch from his wrist and puts that in his right jacket pocket before he looks down at the injured attacker. He seems to slowly be coming around, which does not fit in with the way Elijah plans for things to go.

He sighs as he walks around the man, stopping when he is stood directly behind him. The man probably pasted out from the shock of Jack attacking him and unfortunately the shock was never going to be enough to keep him knocked out cold. But Elijah knows what will keep him down for awhile and he waits patiently for the man to come around just enough that he will really feel the side effects. Just as the man is about to sit up, Elijah stomps on his head, hard and fast. He is unconscious again instantly and Elijah is very aware that what he is about to do is illegal, but he has done a lot of things that the law would not agree with in his lifetime. He does not see how once more could hurt.

Elijah then puts his arms under the mans arms and starts to drag him to the exit. He will hide the body in a bush while he goes to retrieve his car. Then he will drive to his new office and drag him down to the basement, where hopefully he will get the answers he needs out of the man.

Meanwhile, Rebekah drops Hayley on the couch and lets out a deep breath. Jack runs to his owners side instantly, sitting right by her head with his chin resting on the edge of the couch. Rebekah notices the blood in Hayley's hair and moves her head slightly forwards to see a head wound. The bleeding seems to have died down, but the wound does not look good at all.

Rebekah scratches her head and moves her hair out of her face as she tries to remember what her mother always told her about head sores and how to treat them. She remembers something about warm water and applying pressure to the wound.

She quickly walks into the kitchen and grabs a bowl from the top cupboard before filling it with warm water, she doubts cold water would help in a situation like this. When the bowl is almost full, she turns the tap off and grabs a cloth from the cupboard under the sink before she returns to the living room.

Rebekah pushes the untidy pile of magazines off the coffee table and sits down on it right in front of Hayley. She dunks the cloth into the bowl of warm water and then squeezes some of the water out before dabbing it around the wound. She repeats this until the wound looks cleaner and less bloody. She then washes all of the blood from the cloth in the water and squeezes it out above the bowl again.

"Let me get there, Jack" Rebekah says as she gently nudges the dog away.

Jack looks confused at first as Rebekah gently lifts Hayley's head, but he doesn't growl, or bark, he just watches, knowing that Rebekah will not cause Hayley any harm. Rebekah then sits down before placing Hayley's head on her lap and applying pressure to the wound with the cloth. Jack then moves in closer again, watching Hayley for any signs of waking up.

Rebekah continues to apply pressure to the wound with the cloth in one hand while she quickly Googles what to do next with her phone in her other hand. According to Google, she has done everything correct so far and should apply some ice in a cloth to the wound for twenty minute after she has applied pressure with the cloth for ten minutes.

Just as Rebekah is about to go and get a fresh cloth and some ice, she feels Hayley move in her lap. Hayley tries to sit up and lets out a small groan, Rebekah puts her hand on Hayley's shoulder to keep her lay down.

"You're okay, you can relax" Rebekah tells her.

She isn't sure if Hayley is listening, she isn't even sure if Hayley can understand her, but she doesn't attempt to get up again. She stays put on Rebekah's lap and lets out a deep breath. She must feel the pain in her head because all of a sudden she is reaching for where the damp cloth is and Rebekah gently stops her, wrapping her hand around Hayley's wrist.

"I wouldn't if I was you, you won't like what you find" Rebekah says, referring to the cut on her head.

Hayley groans quietly and Jack moves forwards slightly, his tail wagging slowly. He wants to jump all over her and lick her, but he can tell she is delicate right now, so he settles for a careful lick of her hand before backing away. She squints to look at him before letting her eyes fall shut again. Her head is pounding and opening her eyes only makes it hurt even more right now.

"What happened?" Hayley finally manages to ask, her voice low and rusty.

"You were attacked in the park. You were lucky Jack was with you, he fought off the man and managed to take us to you" Rebekah explains, still applying pressure to the wound.

"My head hurts" Hayley grumbles.

Rebekah chuckles, "it's bound to when you have a hole in your head."

"A hole?" Hayley wishes she sounded more worried, but she just doesn't have the energy to voice her worry.

Rebekah chuckles again before she says, "I'm being dramatic, darling."

Hayley doesn't respond to that. It was hard enough for her to ask a few questions, she definitely is not up for a conversation right now. In fact, all she wants to do is sleep until the ache in her head goes away.

Rebekah shifts from under her and tucks a stray piece of Hayley's hair behind her ear.

"I'll be right back. Stay there and don't go to sleep, you might have a concussion" Rebekah instructs.

Hayley groans in response.

Rebekah takes the bowl and the cloth back into the kitchen and puts them in the sink, she will wash them later. She then grabs a new cloth from under the sink and opens the freezer, pulling out the ice bag. She puts several pieces into the cloth and then puts the ice back into the freezer. She also grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and takes a pack of pain relief from inside one of the top cupboards. She then wraps the ice up in the cloth and returns to the living room.

Lifting Hayley's head gently, she returns to her place. She carefully puts the ice filled cloth on Hayley's wound, making the brown haired girl groan in pain. She then opens the box of pain relief, pops two pills from the holder and throws the packet onto the coffee table out of the way.

"I've got you some pain relief" Rebekah says.

Hayley groans again and Rebekah helps Hayley sit up slightly. Rebekah takes Hayley's hand in hers and puts the tablets in her hand, closing her fingers around them. Hayley wastes no time and puts both tablets in her mouth as she sways in her almost sat up position. Rebekah quickly opens the bottle of water and holds it to Hayley's mouth. She drinks from the bottle and swallows the tablets before letting herself sink back into Rebekah's lap.

Rebekah puts the lid back onto the bottle and puts the bottle on the floor next to her feet. She then places the ice cold cloth back over Hayley's wound and holds it there. She uses her other hand to send Marcel a quick message saying ' _found Hayley, come home x_ '.

Jack moves to the other end of the couch and carefully jumps up, curling up next to Hayley's feet. He rests his head on her thigh and never takes his eyes off her unless there is a good reason for doing so.

Hayley sighs loudly and then moans quietly, moving her head a little bit to get more comfy.

"Where's Elijah?" She asks, quietly.

Rebekah almost blurts out the truth, but she knows that telling Hayley where he is and what he is doing will do nothing but worry her. So, it looks like she will have to lie for now.

"He's with Marcel looking for you. I just texted Marcel to come home, so they should be here soon."

Hayley nods once and then stays silent. She has no energy, she feels like she could sleep for a week, but she isn't sure if she is allowed to sleep. To say she feels groggy would be an understatement.

"I hope you aren't going to sleep, Hayley" Rebekah says, a playful firmness in her voice.

"No" Hayley says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I think you have to wait like two hours, or something before you can sleep with concussion, so it looks like we're gonna have plenty of time for a catch up" Rebekah says.

"Great" Hayley says, unintentionally sounding unenthusiastic.

Rebekah picks up her phone off the arm of the chair again and starts Googling about concussions, hoping that she will find something usual about what to do. If Elijah was here he would know what to do, but unfortunately he is currently preoccupied.

"You won't believe who I ran into at Target yesterday" Rebekah says, trying to stir up some conversation to keep Hayley awake.

"Who? Hayley asks.

"Matt bloody Donovan" Rebekah tells her.

"Who's that?" Hayley asks, wishing she had the energy to at least sound interested.

"The boy I lost my bloody virginity to" Rebekah says. "I was just about to put a cucumber in my basket when I heard someone say 'yeah you always did like big ones didn't you, Rebekah'. So I turn around and there's Matt, stood there looking dopey and smiling at me like we are still in high school. That was one hell of an awkward encounter."

A tiny smile appears on Hayley's face. Only Rebekah could get herself into a situation like that.

"What did you say?" Hayley asks.

"Well, I said, 'yes that's why I went black'. I don't think he got the joke, but I found it funny" Rebekah tells her.

Hayley actually almost chuckles at that. She loves Rebekah's wit and humour.

"Marcel loved it, said it was one of the best things he has ever heard, which I doubt, but it was a nice compliment" Rebekah rambles.

"I like it" Hayley says, her voice croaky.

"Obviously you do, we all know that you have an evil sense of humour" Rebekah says, putting her phone down and giving up on searching for answers on how to how to deal with a concussion.

Hayley smiles again. Her smile quickly drops however when she feels a sharp pain in her head again.

She can't remember anything accept a pain. A strong, nasty pain shooting through her head. Then everything went black. And Jack was barking, but then he wasn't, or maybe he was and she just couldn't hear him. She can't remember what happened and she doesn't like not knowing.

"What happened in the park?" Hayley asks.

Rebekah holds her breath for a few seconds, unsure what to tell her friend. She has already lied once, she won't lie again.

"We aren't entirely sure, but we know you were attacked by a man, an ugly one, and he must of knocked you unconscious because you were flat out when we got there. Jack came and found us and then I brought you home with Jack" Rebekah explains.

Hayley frowns, "we?"

Rebekah could smack herself. Of course Hayley would be able to sniff out her lie even in her dazed state. No point lying now.

"Elijah was with me when we found you. He told me to bring you back and he stayed at the park with the man who attacked you. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry."

"He'll get in trouble" Hayley says, still not being able to express her emotion through her voice.

"He won't. This might sound extremely unsettling and disturbing, but believe me, he knows what he is doing" Rebekah says.


	37. Chapter 37

Hayley groans as she wakes up on Rebekah's couch. She is uncomfortable and has a throbbing pain in the back of her head that has refused to leave her alone since last night. She opens her eyes and sees that she has a light blue blanket over her. She stretches her legs and feels something under the blanket. She frowns and then looks under the blanket to see Jack tucked in between her and the back of the couch. She smiles and he turns his head to look at her, his tail wagging a few times before stopping.

"Hey."

Hayley pulls her head out from under the blanket to see Marcel stood by the living room door. He has his usual smirk on his face and has a flask of what smells like coffee in one hand, and a cup of coffee in his other hand. He starts to move towards Hayley.

"I was about to come and check on you" he tells her.

"Thanks, but I'm fine, you don't need to worry" Hayley says, sitting up.

"Yeah well, Rebekah told me to check on you and it's too early to be arguing with her so" Marcel says, smiling.

Hayley smiles back as he sits down next to her feet on the couch. He holds the cup of coffee out to her and she takes it happily, taking a sip, she closes her eyes and sighs as she welcomes the warm liquid down her throat and into her body.

"What happened to you is real shit. No one deserves that" Marcel says.

Hayley nods, "I can't actually remember anything, but Rebekah thinks I got attacked and then Jack attacked the guy who hit me."

"Yeah, she told me" Marcel says.

They both take a sip of their drinks and Jack pops his head out from under the blanket. He looks between them and lets out a huff when none of them give him their attention. He then jumps off the couch. He leaves the living room and heads for the kitchen, waiting for his breakfast.

"What time is it?" Hayley asks, rubbing the back of her sore head.

"Half seven" Marcel tells her.

"When did you get home last night?" Hayley asks.

"Like an hour after Rebekah brought you back" Marcel answers.

Hayley nods her head and stays silent for a few seconds.

"Do you know if Elijah came home last night?" She finally asks.

Marcel stays silent for a few seconds, he looks nervous, like he doesn't want to have this discussion with her.

"No. He didn't" he says. "But Rebekah said not to worry so I'm just taking her word for it. She knows him so, she's probably right."

"Yeah" Hayley says, despite the fear of what could of happened to Elijah burning inside of her.

Marcel takes another sip from his flask and looks down at his Apple watch. He presses something on it and then looks at Hayley again.

"Look, Hayley, I don't know for sure if Klaus got that guy to attack you, but I want you to know that you are safe in this house. You always will be, even when Elijah isn't here. After everything he's put you through, you need people around you to help. I'm here to help" Marcel says.

Hayley smiles at him and holds her hand out to him. He gives her a small smile back and takes her hand in his.

She squeezes his hand and says, "thank you, Marcel."

He nods to her.

Hayley then pulls her hand back and he stands up from the couch. He looks around the room awkwardly before looking down at Hayley again. It amuses Hayley to see this less confident side of Marcel.

"I've got to be at work for eight today, so I gotta go" he tells her.

Hayley nods.

"Yeah, it's fine, go" she says, smirking.

Marcel smiles at her and heads for the door. He stops when he gets to the living room door and turns to look at Hayley.

"Call me if you need anything" he says.

Hayley smiles. She knows Marcel never answers his phone, but it is a kind gesture.

"I will, thanks" she says, even though she won't.

He smiles at her one last time and leaves the house. Rebekah then walks into the living room and comes to take the seat Marcel was just sat in. She takes the cup from Hayley's hands and takes a sip of the coffee, letting out a sigh as she swallows the warm liquid.

"What was that about?" Rebekah asks.

"He was just letting me know he's on my side" Hayley says.

Rebekah chuckles and takes another sip from the cup.

"He was going to go out looking for clues last night. I had to remind him that he isn't a detective and he would only be contaminating any evidence he found" Rebekah says.

Hayley smiles.

"He cares more than he lets the world see" Rebekah says.

"That makes him sound like Klaus" Hayley says.

Rebekah takes one last sip from the cup and then hands it back to Hayley.

"They are more alike than I think Marcel would like to admit" Rebekah says.

Hayley takes a sip from the cup and then bites her lip as a slight chill sets over her body. Hopefully, they are not too alike. Another Klaus is the last thing she needs.

"How's your head anyway? Want any pain relief?" Rebekah asks, looking at Hayley.

"It hurts a bit, but I'll live" Hayley says, touching her head wound gently.

Hayley wants to ask Rebekah about Elijah. She wants to ask where he is, if he has been in contact, why he isn't home yet. But from the looks of things, Rebekah is just as much in the dark about it as she is right now. Elijah could be on the next flight to another state and none of them would have the faintest idea.

Hayley can not remember much from last night, but she can remember the things that happened when she wasn't unconscious last night. She can remember Rebekah phoning Elijah twice, both times she got no answer and left a voicemail. She can remember the worry and fear in Rebekah's voice, both are emotions that the blonde very rarely shows. Maybe she should have phoned Elijah. She is sure he will let her off the hook for not phoning though considering she spent most of the night in and out of consciousness on Rebekah's couch thanks to a head wound and some extra strong pain relief.

"When do you think Elijah will get home?" Hayley asks.

Rebekah sighs and looks down at her hands.

"I have no idea, Hayley. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later, or else he'll miss breakfast" she says, trying to be a bit comical.

Despite knowing there is no point in asking, Hayley decides to ask anyway.

"Where do you think he went last night?"

Rebekah shrugs. "I don't have the slightest idea."

"Me either" Hayley says.

They sit in silence for a minute, or so, both wondering about Elijah's whereabouts. Eventually, Rebekah turns her body to face Hayley and puts her hand on her knee, in a comforting manor. She looks worried again and that makes Hayley worry even more,. In fact, all the worrying is making her feel a bit sick.

"Listen, Hayley, whatever Elijah did last night, it doesn't make him a bad person. He is one of the good ones. Even if he did something that he can't take back, he will always be one of the good ones" Rebekah says.

Hayley frowns slightly.

"What do you mean something he can't take back?" Hayley asks. "Did he kill the guy who attacked me?"

"No, of course not... well, I hope not. I mean, I doubt it," Rebekah does not sound very convincing. "But anyway, he is a good man. You know that as well as I do by now."

"Is this you trying to get me to stay with Elijah even if he has killed a man? If it is, it isn't working" Hayley tells her.

"I'm just trying to prepare you for the worst, Hayley" Rebekah says, quietly.

"What do you mean?" Hayley asks back.

Rebekah tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and looks down at her hands as she plays with her engagement ring. She shouldn't tell Hayley anything, she told father she would never tell a soul. But she has already told Hayley so much. She might as well just tell her everything. Besides, there is no proof anymore. All of it was disposed of effectively.

"When I was younger and I was living with my parents and the rest of my siblings, I use to see a lot of things. Father was involved in a lot of dangerous stuff and he often involved Finn and Elijah. Seeing them come home covered in blood was not something to be surprised by. Neither was seeing them dragging somebody through the house to get to the shed" Rebekah tells her.

Hayley swallows the vomit that she feels trying to get up her throat.

"You want me to be okay with him coming home covered in blood?" Hayley asks, confused.

"I'm not saying be okay with it. I'm just saying it's nothing new for him, or me... and if this Klaus thing carries on, it might become old news for you too" Rebekah says.

"This shit better not carry on then because I don't want to see him coming home every night like that" Hayley says, the thought of it quite upsetting.

"Don't worry. Elijah won't let it carry on."

"How am I suppose to not worry when I can see you worrying?" Hayley asks.

Rebekah sighs.

"I'm only worried because he isn't home yet. I'm not worried about him getting hurt, I know he can handle himself" Rebekah says.

"We all meet our match one day, Rebekah. What if he has met his" Hayley says, sick rising in her throat again.

She has no idea what is wrong with her, but she does not like this feeling at all. Hayley is not the kind of person to feel sick because she is worrying, or because the conversation gets a bit gory, or suggests gore. Maybe she is coming down with something, some kind of bug. Or maybe her head wound is messing with the rest of her body as well as her head. She isn't quite sure what it is, but she knows that if it carries on, she will be running for the bathroom.

"Elijah will never meet his match" Rebekah says confidently., taking Hayley's cup from her again.

"How do you know that?" Hayley asks, frowning slightly.

"Because he only starts fights he knows he can win. He is a smart fighter, not a reckless one" Rebekah says.

Hayley nods in acknowledgement. It is believable that Elijah would only pick a fight if he knows he will win. He is smart and clever in pretty much everything else that he does, why wouldn't he be a smart fighter as well? Maybe she shouldn't worry. But there is always that chance that he might not be okay.

Hayley goes to say something, but instantly has to stop and put a hand over her mouth. She is going to have to go to the bathroom right now because whatever it is that wants to come up, is coming up whether she likes it, or not.

Hayley shoves the blanket off her and runs out of the living room. She hears Rebekah ask her where she is going, or what is wrong with her, one of the two, she doesn't stick around to ask which it was. And she isn't really paying attention to what is coming out of Rebekah's mouth when she is trying to keep whatever wants out of her mouth in.

She races up the stairs, taking them two at a time when a strong dizziness hits her. She knows that it is because of how fast she is going while she is still recovering from last nights attack, but she really needs to reach the bathroom. She nearly falls back down the stairs as she reaches the top thanks to the dizzy feeling in her head. Luckily, she manages to push against the wall to keep herself up and allow herself to keep on moving forwards.

Finally, she reaches the bathroom. She throws the door open, drops to her knees and hangs her head over the toilet just in time for the contents of her stomach to come up. She hates being sick. She hates the retching feeling, she hates that her eyes water like a tap while everything she has ate and drank in the past twenty-four hours comes up, and she especially hates how weak and vulnerable it makes her feel.

Hayley grips the toilet with one hand and holds her stomach with her other, and more vomit makes it's way up. She feels Rebekah's hands brush against the back of her neck as she holds her hair back for her and gently rubs her back. She knows that her friend just wants to help, but nothing could possibly help how she feels right now. She feels like she has been sat here for twenty minutes already and it is literally none stop. Every time she thinks it might be over, more threatens to come. She would understand if maybe she had ate something, but all she has had today is half a cup of coffee, and yet it feels like she has been on an all weekend bender.

"It's alright, love. Get it all up" Rebekah says, patting Hayley on the back gently.

Rebekah feels sick herself just being in the same room as Hayley right now, but they are family and they stick together. Hayley needs her, so the bathroom floor next to a vomiting Hayley is where she will be found. She considers getting a wet towel, or something cold to put on the back of Hayley's neck because she is really starting to burn up, but she doesn't want to leave her yet.

Hayley pants when the vomiting stops. She coughs and tries to spit the disgusting taste that has been left in her mouth away. She closes her eyes and rests her head against the toilet, hoping that Marcel didn't pee on there this morning. Rebekah continues to rub her friends back, moving a bit closer to her to press the back of her hand to her forehead.

"You feel really hot, Hayley. I hope you're not ill" Rebekah says.

"I don't feel ill, well, apart from throwing up" Hayley says, eyes still closed.

"What the hell happened? Where did all that come from?" The blonde asks.

Hayley shakes her head and takes in a deep breath.

"I have no idea, but I need some water" Hayley says.

"I'll be right back" Rebekah says, patting Hayley on the back.

Rebekah gets up and walks out of the room, going to the kitchen to get Hayley some water. Hayley opens her eyes and sits up away from the toilet. She flushes the toilet and lets herself fall back onto the bathroom floor. The tiles are cool against her clammy arms and face and she embraces it gladly.

Hayley feels her stomach churn again and she stares at the wall sadly. She is desperate for the sick feeling to leave her alone, but from the constant turning feeling in her stomach, she thinks that she can safely say that this is just the start. This was definitely not how she planned to spend her day.

Rebekah returns with a bottle of water in her hand and she sits down on the floor again, holding her hand out to Hayley. She takes the blonde's hand and lets her pull her up into a sitting position. Rebekah then hands her the bottle of water and Hayley takes a massive swig from the bottle. She instantly wishes that she hadn't because the effects the water has on her stomach definitely do not feel positive.

"Want me to get some pain relief, or a damp towel, or anything?" Rebekah offers.

Hayley closes her eyes and shakes her head slowly.

"Did Marcel cook for you?" Rebekah asks.

"No, I've had nothing except coffee" Hayley replies.

"Good, because then you really would be puking" Rebekah says.

Hayley smirks and runs a hand over her face.

"What the hell could it be then?" Rebekah asks, more to herself than Hayley.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna be sick again."

Hayley swings her head over the toilet just in time as more vomit comes up. Rebekah is there for her again straight away, grabbing her hair, rubbing her back, trying to comfort her however she can.

She has no idea how she is able to vomit this much when she has literally only had a few sips of coffee. Something must be wrong. Surely, this is not physically possible, to be sick this much with practically nothing in your stomach. Whether is it possible, or not, it is happening and it is giving Hayley a terrible twisting feeling in her gut.

Finally after another ten minutes of vomiting, Hayley is able to move away from the toilet again. She lets her head fall against Rebekah's shoulder as she holds the cool water bottle against her cheek. She has never been a believer in god, but right now she is ready to pray that it stops and she doesn't have to be sick again.

Rebekah reaches up and flushes the toilet for her friend. She then wraps her arms around Hayley again and rubs her back with one hand, while stroking the back of her head with her other hand, avoiding touching her sore wound.

"Maybe the hole in your head is messing with you" Rebekah suggests.

"I felt fine when I woke up, bit of a headache, but I was okay" Hayley tells her.

"Have you felt dizzy at all today?" Rebekah asks.

"Not until I ran up the stairs" Hayley says.

Rebekah stares at the toilet in shock as a massive realisation suddenly settles over her.

"Hayley?"

"Yeah?"

"When was the last time you took a pill?"

Hayley frowns in confusion and sits up to look at her friend.

"A pill?" She asks.

"Yes, a pill, a contraceptive pill" Rebekah says.

Hayley's eyes widen as she is also hit with the same realisation.

"A lot of months ago" she says, staring at the floor.

"And you haven't had a period since you stopped taking them?" Rebekah asks.

"No, but you aren't meant to have them straight away anyway right? Doesn't it take like a few months for your body to get back to normal?" Hayley asks.

Rebekah gives her a sad smile.

"I think you'd have started your periods again by now, sweetheart."

Hayley puts her face in her hands and lets out a deep breath.

"I'm so stupid" Hayley says to herself. "I knew I should have started taking the pill again and instead of going and buying some new ones, I just thought I'd be like all those girls in high school who fuck their way around the football team and still never get pregnant."

"One of them always gets pregnant eventually, Hayley" Rebekah says.

"And I'm the unlucky one" Hayley says.

"Or, maybe you're lucky" Rebekah says.

Hayley takes her face out of her hands and looks up at her friend, waiting for her to explain how this situation is lucky for her in any way whatsoever.

"Elijah will stick around and look after you. You know that right?" Rebekah asks.

"After all of the shit he has already gone through because of me, believe me he won't stick around to play happy families" Hayley says, pushing her hair from her face.

"Then you don't know him well enough yet. Elijah will stay and raise that baby with you" Rebekah says.

She takes Hayley's hand in hers and gives her a small, reassuring smile when they make eye contact.

"Hayley, believe me. If you are pregnant, he will stay."

Hayley jumps up and immediately regrets it because of the dizziness that hits her, but she remains steady. She sits on the edge of the bathtub and runs her hand through her hair.

"We don't even know if I'm pregnant yet" she says.

Rebekah points to the cabinet above the sink. "Well, I have about 50 pregnancy tests in there. I'm up for it if you are."

Hayley shakes her head and sighs. She looks down at the floor as her whole future starts to flash before her eyes. She could end up being in a happy little family, her, Elijah and their baby... or, she could end up a single mother selling herself to any man she can find just to make a few dollars to feed her child. Hopefully, it is not the latter.

Hayley closes her eyes for a few seconds and lets out another deep breath. She then looks up at Rebekah and gives her a small smile.

"Get a test" Hayley says.

Rebekah smiles back at her. The blonde then gets up off the floor and opens the cabinet. She pulls a test from one of the shelves and opens the box, tipping the contents into the sink. Two tests fall out with a letter with instructions on it. She puts one test back in the box and puts the instructions in the bathroom bin. She then turns to face Hayley and hands her the test.

"Do you want me to leave and give you some space?" Rebekah asks, despite being desperate to stay.

"Hell no. You're staying for every second of this" Hayley says.

Rebekah chuckles.

"Girls have gotta stick together right" Hayley says, smirking.

Rebekah smiles back at her.

They swap positions, Rebekah sits on the edge of the bath and Hayley stands near the toilet. She pulls her pants down, which she has been wearing since her run last night, she must remember to shower and change soon. She holds the stick under her and has a bit of a wee. She then drops the test in the sink and wipes before standing up again. Hayley flushes the toilet and puts the seat down before sitting on it.

And now, the longest two minute wait of her life.

She finds it quite ironic that Rebekah is the one who has always wanted a baby, always been trying for a baby and now she might be the one having one. She wanted kids one day, but she never excepted that day would come so soon. Maybe it isn't today though, maybe she isn't pregnant. She doesn't even know whether she hopes it is positive, or negative.

On one hand, Hayley can easily imagine Elijah nursing their baby. She would love to have a family with him, to watch him play with little teacups and plates with a daughter, to throw a football to a son before playfully tackling him to the ground. It would be her idea of perfect. But on the other hand, she can imagine him telling her that it is too soon. She can imagine him telling her he isn't ready yet, he hasn't known her long enough, there is too much going on... there are so many reasons he could use.

"Are you okay?" Rebekah asks, breaking the silence.

Hayley considers saying yes, but that would be a very obvious lie.

"I'm scared" she admits.

"What of, darling?" Rebekah asks, sweetly.

"My mum was never really around and my dad was a violent alcoholic like Klaus. What if I end up being a shitty parent too?" Hayley asks, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"If you are pregnant are you going to abandon that baby?" Rebekah asks.

Hayley shakes her head, "no."

"Will you ever hit your child, or get dangerously drunk around them?" Rebekah asks, causing Hayley to frown slightly.

"No never" Hayley answers.

"Well, so far you sound like a good mother then" Rebekah says, smiling.

Hayley gives her a small smile back.

"Now, stop keeping me in suspense and check your bloody test" Rebekah says, nodding towards the sink.

Rebekah loves children of all shapes and sizes, ages and genders, and the thought of having a niece or nephew is music to her ears. She would be the happiest woman alive to have a little baby crawling around the house, even if it is not her baby yet.

Hayley chuckles and sighs. She stands up and picks up the test from the sink. She looks at the back of it for a few seconds before she slowly turns it over, biting her lip as nerves run all through her body.

"It's positive."

Before Rebekah can react, they hear the front door slam and they both jump at the sound.

"Is anyone home?" Elijah calls from downstairs.

Hayley and Rebekah stare at each other in panic. It is just Hayley's luck that he would come home right now.


	38. Chapter 38

After staring at Rebekah for a good minute, Hayley finally regains control of her body and drops the pregnancy test back into the sink. She should hide it, or throw it in the bin, or do whatever the other hundreds of women do when they find out they are having a baby with a man they haven't even known for a year. But Elijah is home, and after the initial shock of him arriving at a very inconvenient time, that is all that matters, that he is home.

She wastes no time exiting the bathroom as fast as she can without running and makes her way downstairs. Elijah is stood there by the front door, still in last nights clothes and looking rather nervous. Hayley doesn't care though, she makes it down the last few steps and takes the final steps before she wraps her arms tightly around Elijah's neck. She holds on to him tightly, letting him know just how much she worried about him without having to use her words.

Elijah doesn't return the hug straight away. He seems like he is too tense, too unsettled for the intimacy, but after a few more seconds, Hayley feels his arms wrap around her. She smiles as she feels his hands come to rest on her back, one on her higher back, one on her lower back, both holding her slightly tighter than usual.

Rebekah watches from the top of the stairs, debating whether she should give them a moment alone, or not. She can tell from the look on Elijah's face that something happened last night that he definitely won't want to talk about when she questions him on it later. Just that alone makes her want to go down and hug him herself, let him know that even after whatever it is he has done, she will always be here for him. But Hayley probably needs this moment more than she does right now. Especially after what she has just found out from one of Rebekah's little white sticks. So, she makes her way to her bedroom and decides that she and her brother can talk later.

Hayley hears Rebekah's bedroom door shut, but doesn't think much of it. She is glad that the blonde has given her some time to be alone with Elijah, even if she comes out again in ten minutes, the alone time is appreciated.

Hayley nuzzles her face into Elijah's neck and inhales deeply. She feels a small wave of content take over her body as she catches the scent of his usual expensive fragrance. Even though she thinks he pays way too much money for a simple bottle of cologne, she absolutely loves the smell of it and she honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

She wishes she could say she feels happy right now in this moment. But with the little life inside of her, that is currently resting in between them, threatening to possibly ruin them, she can not say that happiness is what she feels. She definitely feels content and maybe just about fine, but happy can not be used to describe Hayley at this moment in time.

"Are you okay?" Elijah speaks right next to her ear and it sends shivers down her spine.

Hayley moves her head back from the hug so she can look into his eyes. She looks over his face, checking for any scratches, marks, or any signs that he has been fighting. When she is satisfied that he is free from any injuries, she nods.

Elijah nods his head in acknowledgement and then his gaze shifts to look at the top of her head. She assumes that he is looking for her head wound and she brings one hand down from his shoulder to rest on his chest.

"It's barely a scratch" Hayley says, but Elijah doesn't look convinced.

"Show me" his tone is so soft and gentle that she can't say no.

Hayley bends her head downwards, almost leaning it against Elijah's chest so that he can see the wound. She is now staring down at his shiny shoes and hoping that he won't worry more than he has to. He doesn't say anything, but she does feel his fingers on her head, just next to the wound. His other hand stays on her waist, anchoring her to him.

"I could take you to hospital" Elijah offers and Hayley immediately shakes her head.

She looks back up at him.

"No, it's fine. The last thing I need is a bunch of doctors poking and prodding me right now."

He understands and nods.

They stare at each other in silence for what feels like an awfully long time and it makes Hayley feel nervous. She bites her bottom lip as flashes of a white stick with two red lines marking it flash through her mind. She should tell him. She has to tell him. But is now really the best time to tell her potential murderer (depending on what he was doing last night), kind of boyfriend, kind of not, that she is having his baby?

Maybe there will never be a right time and she should just blurt it out.

"Coffee?" Elijah asks.

Hayley nods and Elijah walks into the kitchen. Hayley follows slowly, her brain working so hard with the constant overthinking that it is failing to actually take her to her desired destination.

After an embarrassing slow walk, Hayley finally makes it to the table in the kitchen. She sits down in one of the chairs and sighs as she looks up at Elijah, who currently has his back to her. He is looking out of the window while waiting for the coffee machine to produce.

Hayley bites her lip again and leans back in her chair as she looks at Elijah. Rebekah is right: he is a good man. Even though he took part in the affair, even though he has done bad things in his life, he is a good man. Everyone has done bad things in their life, anyone who says that they have not is a liar. Doing bad things does not make someone a bad person, not if they are good the rest of the time. But what if he has killed someone... that would probably change things.

She has no idea where Elijah went last night and she has no idea what he was doing. All she knows is that he was likely with the man who assaulted her and after seeing how he treated Klaus the last time the three of them were in a room together, it makes her wonder just how fair Elijah is willing to go to protect her. Hopefully, not too far.

Hayley is just about to bring up last night when Elijah turns to face her and beats her to it.

"I'm sorry I was absent all night" he says, leaning against the counter with his back.

Hayley bites her lip because she has no idea what to say. Elijah takes her silence as her wanting him to explain more, so he does.

"I was taking care of some business... personal business."

Hayley swallows nervously and nods. She knows exactly what that means and she can already feel her nerves threatening to bubble over and burn her from the inside out. She has to be stronger than that. She has to say something.

"What happened?" She finds herself asking before she can stop herself.

Elijah holds his breath because this is not a conversation he wants to be having with Hayley. But he has no choice. This conversation was inevitable from the moment he saw what that man had done to Hayley.

"Do you want brutal honesty, or a very convincing lie?" Elijah asks. He has both prepared.

Hayley frowns slightly as if she doesn't understand the question. Elijah knows that she does understand though, she is a very smart woman despite what her high school grades might have to say about her intelligence.

"I want the truth" she says as expected.

Elijah nods his head and turns away from her to pour the coffee into the two cups on the side. He pours coffee into both cups and then moves around the table, coming to sit down in the chair next to Hayley. A part of him considers that she might not want him this close to her, but he decides that he would rather be sat close to her whilst having this conversation.

He holds out a cup to Hayley and she takes it, giving him a small and quick smile as a thank you. She instantly takes a sip from the cup, but then thinks back to this one magazine she read that said something about coffee being bad for the baby during pregnancy and she puts the cup down on the table instantly. She will definitely be googling whether that is true, or not later.

"I took the man who assaulted you somewhere quiet and we discussed our mutual interests" Elijah says and Hayley thinks he is being far too formal and distance for it to be that easy.

"And that was it? Come on, Elijah, no conversation lasts that long. What really happened?" Hayley asks.

Elijah lets out a small sigh and looks down at his coffee cup. His body language is helping Hayley calm her nerves in no way whatsoever. No matter what words leave his mouth, Hayley knows that more happened than him and some random guy having a chat. And if he won't tell her what happened, then she will have to push it out of him.

"Did you kill him?" Hayley asks, bluntly.

Elijah's eyes shoot up to hers and he honestly seems shocked that she has asked.

"No" he answers.

Hayley's nerves calm slightly and she lets out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. At least he didn't become a murderer last night. That makes her feel more encouraged to tell him about the baby, which she is sure all the burning nerves and stress won't help with.

"What is it then?" She pauses, giving him the chance to answer. He still doesn't. "Did you rough him up a bit? Hit him, beat him?"

"A slight bit more than beat him, but that seems like an adequate term to use" he says.

Hayley knows that what Elijah means to say is that he tortured the man, but that isn't something she is sure she can hear. She is definitely sure that he is talking about torture when she sees a tiny spot of dried blood on the sleeve of his jacket. She considers pointing it out to him so she knows that he definitely knows that she knows what he is talking about. She decides against that and carries on with the conversation.

"What did he tell you?" She asks, which seems to shock Elijah.

Maybe he was expecting her to shout, or argue with him. She really isn't in the mood for any of that though and just wants to know any information Elijah might have gotten from the man. Besides, as long as they are both safe, nothing about last night matters.

"He was given a job by a man named Tony Castle to abduct you" Elijah tells her.

Hayley frowns, "I don't know any one called Tony."

Elijah takes a sip from his cup.

"Neither do I, but I have an inkling that he is part of the gang Kol socialises with" he says.

"What makes you think that?" She asks, wanting proof that Kol is involved.

"Kol had some of the gang members attack me on behalf of Niklaus, there is nothing to stop him from having the same thing done to you" he explains and Hayley sees the logic behind it.

Elijah takes another sip from his cup.

"Kol was never cruel to me, why would he side with Klaus?" Hayley asks, looking for answers that she realises Elijah might not have.

"He has always sided with Niklaus" Elijah says.

Hayley expects him to say more, but does not question him when he doesn't. Maybe there isn't more to that story, it might just be as simple as Klaus and Kol always side with each other. Or, there could be a deeper story there to be investigated, but now is not the time to be asking about that.

"I truly am sorry about last night" Elijah says and Hayley looks up to look into his honest, brown eyes. "I know I should have been here with you, not out there...". He looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn't. He leaves his sentence unfinished and Hayley is just fine with that.

She takes the coffee cup from his hand and places it next to hers on the table. She then takes his hand in hers, pretending not to notice the slight bruising of his knuckles. She holds his hand in both of hers and gives him a small smile.

"Don't be sorry. We had to find out what he wanted with me somehow" she says, and she means it.

Elijah suddenly seems quite tense again and he leans his elbows on his knees as he puts his free hand over Hayley's hands that are still holding his other hand. He puts their joined hands to his lips for a few seconds, but doesn't do anything else, almost like he is scared of pushing her too far.

He looks up at her and Hayley is sure she can see fear in his eyes. Like a real genuine sense of fear.

"I'm not like that." He pauses and swallows, his eyes looking teary. "I don't do stuff like that, not anymore. And I understand if you don't want to be involved with me anymore, if I crossed a line-"

Hayley shakes her head and he stops speaking. She is glad that he has shut up because she doesn't want him thinking that he has pushed her away. He has made her worry, he has made her panic a bit, he has made her want to ask about the "not anymore", but he hasn't pushed her away. Yes, he was out torturing a man last night, but he did that for her.

Hayley also leans forwards, stopping when their faces are almost within touching distance. She also removes one of her hands from his and places it on his face, rubbing her thumb gently over his cheek.

"Don't say that" she tells him.

He looks confused, but less worried and tense.

"I'm not going anywhere" she says, just to confirm that he hasn't lost her because he doesn't seem to understand that he hasn't.

Elijah nods his head in acknowledgement and lets out a sigh of relief. He then presses his forehead against Hayley's and she moves her other hand from his. She bites her lip and places her hand on his chest, grabbing a handful of his t-shirt before she pulls him closer to her. Their lips meet in a slow, but very passionate kiss.

It honestly takes everything that Hayley has in her to not drag Elijah to his feet and upstairs. Because even after everything that has been said and everything that still needs to be said, he is home and he is safe. To Hayley that is all that she cares about right now and she would love to carry things on upstairs to show Elijah that she isn't going anywhere, but two things are suddenly shooting through her mind. One of them being that sex is exactly how she got herself into her current predicament, so maybe it is best to lay of it for a short while, and two being that Rebekah is roaming around the house somewhere just waiting to jump out and yell "Hayley's pregnant!", which unfortunately doesn't work very well for Hayley.

Hayley pulls away from the kiss slowly and Elijah doesn't protest, still hesitant after their conversation. She leans back in and gives him one last quick kiss before she pulls away from him completely, sitting back in her chair. He also sits back in his chair, picking his coffee cup back up and taking a sip from it.

"Where's Rebekah?" Elijah asks, changing the subject.

Hayley knows she has to get to Rebekah before Elijah does so she doesn't blabber mouth to him. She has the perfect plan already in mind as well and she has no doubt it will work.

"I think she is in her room. I'm actually gonna take a bath, so I'll go get her for you if you want?" She offers, hoping he will take the bait.

Which of course, he does.

Elijah nods and Hayley gives him another small smile. She stands up and walks forwards, coming to stand in between his legs. She then wraps an arm around his neck and he looks up at her as his free hand comes to rest on the small of her back. She smirks down at him and hugs his head to her stomach for a few seconds before she moves his head for him to look back up at her again.

"Join me in the bath when you're done talking to Rebekah" she says, not sounding too demanding.

Elijah smirks up at her and she has to bite her lip to control the almost massive smile she lets out. That is definitely her most favourite Elijah smirk. It is full of cheekiness and charm and she absolutely loves it.

"I'll make sure it's a very short conversation" he tells her, still smirking.

Hayley chuckles and leans down to give him a quick kiss. She then leaves her spot in between his legs and makes her way out of the kitchen. She is rather gutted that she didn't get to have her coffee, but she hasn't googled about how it will effect the baby yet and she really wants to be sure rather than just risk it.

She runs up the stairs and walks to Rebekah's bedroom door, which is just slightly open. She knocks twice and pokes her head around the door to see Rebekah sat on her bed. She has her phone in her hand and a lottery ticket in the other.

Hayley assumes she is checking the numbers and asks, "did you win?"

Rebekah does a fake laugh and says, "did I fuck. When do I ever get that lucky?"

Hayley smiles and steps into the room, keeping one hand on the door knob.

"How is he then?" Rebekah asks, referring to Elijah.

"He's fine. He wants to speak to you actually" Hayley tells the blonde.

Rebekah rolls her eyes and Hayley smiles, but frowns.

"What?" Hayley asks.

"He's going to quiz me on whether I was a good nurse to you last night" Rebekah says.

Hayley chuckles and shakes her head.

"I doubt it, he's probably just going to fill you in on everything."

"I hope so" Rebekah says, dropping the lottery ticket on her bed. She then picks up a white stick and Hayley's heart beats a little faster when she realises what it is in Rebekah's hand. "So, are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?"

"You can't tell him, or anyone" Hayley says, her tone very serious.

"I thought you were going to tell him" Rebekah says, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but not now" she tells the blonde.

"Why the bloody hell not?" Rebekah asks. Anyone else would be slightly offended by her choice of tone, but Hayley knows better than to take it to heart.

"Because he has been up torturing that guy who attacked me all night, so I don't think he wants to come home to me stood there with a white stick in one hand and a 'I'm having your baby, you're going to be a daddy' balloon" Hayley says, quite dramatically.

Rebekah smiles at the thought and knows that buying a balloon with those exact words on will be what she does when Hayley tells Elijah about the baby.

"Alright, I won't tell him" Rebekah says, genuinely.

Hayley nods and says, "thank you."

Rebekah then drops the pregnancy test from her hand. Hayley points to the test.

"You need to get rid of that."

Rebekah frowns.

"Erm, how?" She asks.

"Hide it, bin it, destroy it. I don't care, just don't let anyone see it" Hayley says before she walks out.

Rebekah lets out a huff after Hayley has gone and looks down at the test. Her eyes suddenly widen and she looks down at her hands in disgust before looking at the pregnancy test again.

"She pissed on that and let me touch it the bloody scruff" she mutters to herself.


	39. Chapter 39

Tony Castle takes a long drag from his sixth cigarette in the space of the last hour. He keeps hoping that the tobacco will relieve some of his stress, but today it doesn't seem to be working. He sighs, it's time to face the music. He takes one last drag and flicks the cigarette to the floor, stamping out the small flame at the end of it. He then makes his way into the main entrance of the Casino he knows Kol and Klaus are currently in.

He nods to the six foot six door man and gets a nod in return as he walks through the main doors. Just like Kol, he knows everyone here. He and Kol are regulars here, and because of that they always get served with the best of everything. The best Champagne, the finest scotch, the most beautiful women.

There isn't much Tony can complain about when it comes to his life, but that is about to change and he knows it. He can see it coming already, the red anger that will engulf Kol when he tells him about the mess that was suppose to be the perfect kidnapping. He has messed things up before, but never anything like this. He knew he should not have offered the job to Richard, but he was the first person he thought of when Robert told him to plan everything. He knew Richard hadn't had any work in awhile, he thought he would be helping out an old friend and getting the job done at the same time... but things don't always go to plan.

Tony walks through the Casino and walks through the doorway leading to the exclusive members club. He spots Kol the second he walks through the door, sat at one of the tables on a platform off the ground with five other men, one of them being Klaus. Davina is there too, sat on Kol's knee, laughing and joking with another girl who is stood behind Kol. They all seem to be in very good moods and he is not looking forward to ruining that.

He sighs and nervously readjusts the cuff link on the right sleeve of his black shirt. He starts to make his way over to the platform they are on, wishing he had of gone to the bar and downed four scotchs before doing this, because he doesn't think this is something he will be able to survive sober.

He reaches the six steps leading up to their table and nods to Sam, the security man stood at the bottom of them. Sam nods back to Tony, but doesn't smile, or show any kind of emotion. He is a hard one to read, but Tony knows him well enough to know that he is just playing the role he has been given. The role of the annoyed and intimidating bouncer. Tony has been given that role off Kol before, but he usually messes that up as well.

He steps up on the platform just as Kol pushes five-hundred dollars worth of chips forwards onto the box with the red number 19 inside of it. He has always been the kind of man to go all out when he does something, Tony noticed that about him from the moment they met five years ago, and not much has changed. One thing that has definitely not changed is Kol's gambling habits. In fact, they seem to have gotten worse. But Tony would never comment on that to Kol; he knows that is a sore subject.

Klaus places two-hundred dollars worth of chips onto black 28 and the other men make their choices, and make their moves before all looking to the dealer at the end of the table. The dealer, with a name badge reading 'Marcus', wastes no time and immediately rolls the ball. They all watch in anticipation and even though the rest of the room is loud and buzzing with drunk men, men who will be rich for tonight and poor tomorrow and loud party music, for the moment they are all quiet.

And then when the ball lands on black 6 and there are no winners, everything is back to normal.

"I thought you said nineteen would be a winner, Davina" Kol says, picking up some more of his chips and getting ready to place them.

Davina is about to reply, but doesn't get the chance to as Klaus beats her to it.

"Can't trust a word women say, you should know that by now, brother" he says, smirking.

Kol chuckles and lifts his glass of scotch to his mouth, taking a large sip. He then places the drink back on the edge of the table and moves only one-hundred dollars worth of chips to red 32. Tony decides that there isn't going to be a good time to tell Kol that the kidnapping was a bust, so he might as well just do it now while the others are still placing their bets.

"Kol?"

He turns to look at Tony and gives him a small smile.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you in here, Tony. Have a seat and buy in, I'll get you a drink" Kol says, cheerful... for now.

"Actually, I won't be staying. I'm on business" he tells Kol.

Kol raises an eyebrow upon hearing this and his smile grows into a more sinister smirk. He knows exactly what Tony is here to tell him and he could not be more excited. He is surprised Tony came to tell him the news and didn't just text him like he usually would, but either way he is excited to hear how well their plan is going.

"Would you like to talk else where?" Kol asks, still smirking.

Tony nods his head and makes his way down off of the platform, waiting at the bottom. Kol turns to look at Klaus and gives his older brother a wink. Klaus smirks evilly and then looks down at the table, placing his chips on black 20. Kol then looks up at Davina and puts his arm around her waist to get her attention. She looks down at him and smiles.

"I'm just going to take care of some business. Make some bets for me and make them winners" Kol tells her, smiling a special smile that he tries to only reserve for her.

Davina smiles back at him and puts her hand on his neck.

"I'll do my best" she says and kisses him quickly.

Davina then stands up from Kol's knee, careful not to spill any of her cocktail. Kol stands up from his chair and kisses her cheek before he picks up his drink and also makes his way down from the platform.

Kol pats Tony on the shoulder when he reaches the bottom of the stairs and he seems to jump nervously. Kol frowns slightly, but doesn't think too long about it. He then leads Tony across the room, past all of the other gambling tables, past one of the six bars in the exclusive members room and to a booth in the corner of the room. Kol slips into the booth, placing his drink down on the table in front of him.

Tony also slips into the booth and takes a deep breath. He knows that Kol is not going to react well to what he is about to tell him, especially with it being a family matter and he honestly wishes that Robert was here. Kol always seems to go easier on them when they mess up together.

"So, tell me" Kol says, pausing and smirking as he moves his glass closer to his mouth. "What have you done with her?"

Tony swallows and tries to think of the best way to break his failure to Kol. However, he already knows that there is no best way.

"Haven't done nothing with her" Tony tells him, looking down at his hands on the table.

Kol takes a sip of his drink and frowns.

"What do you mean?"

Tony swallows nervously again and starts to fidget with his hands.

"Robert said he had some shit going on at home with the wife. He got me to grab one of the men to get the girl" he explains, about to carry on when Kol buts in.

"That sounds simple to me."

Tony nods, "does to me too."

"So then, why do I feel this conversation taking a negative turn?" Kol asks, a hint of annoyance starting to show in his eyes.

Tony's foot starts to tap against the floor and no matter how hard he tries he can't seem to stop it.

"I got Richard to do it. He hadn't worked in awhile, thought I was helping him out... but he fucked up" Tony says.

Kol's grip on his glass tightens excessively.

"What do you mean he fucked up?"

Tony finally looks up at Kol.

"I haven't heard back from him since the night he went to grab her" he tells Kol.

"That was four nights ago" Kol says, the anger becoming very clear in his tone.

"I know, that's why I think he fucked up" the larger man replies.

Kol very suddenly and very roughly slams his unoccupied fist on the table. He then raises the same hand and points at Tony, the anger now very obvious in his face, especially in those darkening eyes.

"You know damn well that he's fucked up and you also know never to ask Richard to take a stealth job. Well done, Tony, you've managed to fuck over all of us, you idiot" Kol rages.

He then drops his pointing finger, his fist falling onto the table and he looks away. He looks back at the gambling table they had just come from, focusing on his brother. Klaus murdered a man a few nights ago just so Tony could go and ruin their grand plan with Hayley and Elijah. Kol knew he should have just arranged it himself, that way Klaus would not have had to kill Harry for Robert and Tony, and nothing would have gone wrong.

But it's too late for what if's and could of's. Kol will just have to deal with the situation that he has been presented with.

"Can you get a tracker to check his phone signal?" Kol asks, still angry, but slightly calmer.

"I tried that, phones off" Tony says, still nervous of what Kol could do next.

"Has anyone been to look for him?" Kol asks, still not looking at the man opposite him.

"I checked out the area and found nothing. I don't know where he was gonna get her though. I could of been looking in the wrong area. He might of chickened out."

Kol sighs and runs a hand through his hair. There are several different ways he could go about this, several different ways he could try to fix the situation and repair the plan. But he doubts any of them would work right now. Richard won't have just gone missing, he will have been injured, killed, or captured by Elijah. Kol knows that Elijah is just as capable, if not more than he is at doing all of this kind of stuff.

Kol turns to look at Tony and the look in his eyes truly terrifies the larger man. It's a look of madness, insanity almost, and it is a look that nothing good ever comes from.

"One night when I was just a 9 years old, I heard a noise coming from the garden of my family home. I tried to ignore it, I told myself it was all in my head. But I kept hearing it, and the more I heard it, the more it started to sound like someone screaming for help. So, I left my room and made my way downstairs. The house was dark, no light coming from anywhere, but as I made my way to the back door I could see it... the light coming from the shed." Tony has no idea how Kol's story ties in to all of this, but he is happy to listen as long as he isn't getting punished for his mistake.

"So, I went out into the garden, barefooted and in my little bed shots, with no idea what to expect. All I knew was that the screaming sound was getting louder as I got closer to the shed. When I was right in front of the shed I could barely hear myself think the screaming was that loud. It scared the shit out of me, the thought of what could be in there. And I was about to turn around and go back inside, pretend nothing happened... but my curiosity got the better of me. So, I slowly opened the door and do you know what I saw in there?"

Tony tries to use his voice, but he has no words. Instead he swallows nervously and shakes his head.

"I saw a man chained to the ceiling with no top on and blood dripping from every part of his upper body, with my father and my brother stood next to him holding crowbars."

"Klaus?" Tony manages to ask.

Kol shakes his head and looks down into his glass.

"It was Elijah. Right as I walked in it was him I saw take a swig at the mans torso. He hit him right above the heart, typical Elijah with his perfect aim. That's when father noticed me stood by the door, he told Elijah to deal with me and for a second I was scared what exactly that meant. It didn't mean anything bad, it simply meant take the child back to bed. But that didn't stop me fearing them in that moment. Who wouldn't of feared them? Him and my father were ripping the man apart, for what reason I have no idea still to this day and I would never ask any of them. I like to think of it as a bad dream that was just a bit too real."

Tony stays silent, still wondering what any of this has to do with his failure.

"What I am saying, Tony, is that Richard will not have chickened out. Elijah will have him" Kol explains.

"How can we be sure?" Tony asks, not doubting Kol, just out of curiosity.

"By going to the house and tracking his every move. I'm sure he will slip up eventually" Kol says, despite knowing how much of a perfectionist Elijah is.

"When do I start tracking him?" Tony asks, desperate to find a way to make right on his mistake.

Kol looks rather amused by this. He downs the rest of his drink and leans forwards.

"The last thing I'm going to do is give you another job after the mess you have made with something so easy." Kol says, quietly but the anger in his tone is there. "Now fuck off out of here."

Tony doesn't hesitate. He stands up quickly and makes for the door. He knows better than to test Kol's patience.

Kol sits back in the booth and watches Tony leave. He should have known that this would be one of the times when Tony manages to ruin everything. He has known Tony for five years and he doesn't make many mistakes, but when he does it is usually when something important is going down.

Kol sighs and pulls his phone from the pocket in his grey suit pants. He unlocks his phone and clicks on the contacts app. He scrolls until he finds the right name and clicks on it. He then clicks call and puts the phone to his ear, waiting for the ringing to stop.

He checks the Rolex on his wrist and it reads 10pm. At least he knows he should definitely get an answer.

The ringing stops a few seconds later.

"Kol, how can I help you?" The voice on the other end of the line asks.

"Just reporting in on Tony" Kol says. He really wishes that things could be different, but he has let Tony off the hook too many times now. He needs to learn his lesson.

"Tony Castle?"

"Yeah, big Tony" Kol confirms.

"What's he done?" The deep voice on the other side of the line asks.

"I asked him to plan a kidnapping. Not only has the kidnapping gone wrong, but it has resulted in one of our guys now possibly being held hostage and the person we planned to kidnap now knows we are after her."

"Stupid fat shit" the man says, referring to Tony. "Don't worry, Kol, I'll have him sorted."

"Good. Are you doing anything tonight then?"

"No, I've got business to sort. I'm guessing your at the Casino."

"You know me too well" Kol says, smirking.

"No, I just know you have an addiction."

Kol laughs at that and waves at the bartender for another scotch.

"I'll be there tomorrow night at eight if you're up for losing some of your money."

"I'll be there, boss" Kol says.

"Alright, see you then." The line goes dead.

Kol locks his phone again and puts it back into his pocket. He should probably feel sad, or guilty about landing Tony in trouble with the boss, but he has covered for Tony for a long time now. It is about time he sees what happens when too many mistakes are made.

The bartender slides Kol's drink to the end of the bar and nods to Kol. He nods back and slips back out of the booth. He picks the drink up on his way past the bar as he goes back towards the platform. He could let the whole thing ruin his night, but he won't. He will just get incredibly drunk and forget about it all instead. He can address the problem more tomorrow when he sees Robert, or one of his other more trusted guys.

Kol climbs the steps to the platform just as Davina cheers. He looks up to see her being given an extra one-hundred dollars worth of chips and he smiles. She looks up at him as he comes to stand next to her and she has a bright, beautiful smile on her face.

"I won again" she tells him, her hand coming to touch his arm.

"Again you say?" Kol asks, smiling down at her.

"She's just made you an extra three-hundred. She's definitely a keeper" Klaus comments and Kol looks up to smile at his brother.

He then looks back at Davina.

"Let's see if you can be my good luck charm then, shall we, darling?" Kol says, tapping Davina on her lower back, signalling for her to get up out of the seat.

Davina stands up and Kol takes the seat. He then wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her to sit down on his knee, right where she was before they were interrupted by Tony. She wraps her arm around his shoulders and picks up her cocktail in her other hand. Kol clinks his glass to hers and they both take a sip from their drinks. Kol then puts his glass down on the edge of the table and picks up two-hundred dollars worth of chips.

He holds one of the chips to Davina's mouth and says "rub some of that luck off onto this."

Davina giggles and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She kisses the chip and then takes it from Kol's hand.

"Where do you want it?" She asks, smiling.

"Put it all on black 24" he says.

Davina puts the chip she kissed down first and then puts her cocktail on the edge of the table. She then turns to take the rest of the chips from Kol, leaning over the table to pile them onto black 24. Kol can't help but look at her backside when she leans over the table and he smirks slyly to himself.

She picks her cocktail up again and sits back down on his knee. Klaus smirks at Kol and then pushes two-hundred dollars worth of chips onto black 22. Kol chuckles.

"This should be an interesting one" Kol says, looking at Klaus.

Klaus smiles, "I just can't wait to see you lose, brother."

Kol laughs.

"Not very likely" he says as the dealer spins the wheel and rolls the ball.

They watch in anticipation, both praying for the win. After a minute of the ball rolling it finally comes to a stop on red 23. Both brothers sigh in frustration and Klaus downs his glass of scotch. Kol then starts laughing.

"Typical" he says.

Klaus shakes his head, but smiles at his younger brother.

"Should of done a street" Klaus says.

"Ah well, we still have plenty of time left to win ourselves a few thousand" Kol says and Davina laughs.

"Better get some more drinks then" Klaus says, nodding to his empty glass.

Kol turns to look at the bar and waves to the bartender. He sees Kol and waves back. Kol then holds up two fingers, letting him know that he wants two drinks. The bartender puts his thumb up and gets to work on their drinks. Kol turns back to the table and starts to analyse the table. It's going to be a long, messy night.


	40. Chapter 40

Hayley steps out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around her damp body and starts to make her way towards the bedroom she has been sharing with Elijah. She just reaches the door when she hears the flap on the door downstairs open and close, signalling that the mail has just been delivered. She considers leaving it for Rebekah to go and get, but she knows Rebekah is probably trying to do some cooking, or cleaning, or something else that house wives do.

She sighs and makes her way towards the stairs. She walks down the stairs quickly, spotting the three letters on the floor right in front of the door. Hayley doubts that they are anything important, but it is best to check just in case. She reaches the small pile of mail and bends down to pick it up. The first one is for Marcel, probably a bill, or a work thing. The second and the third are for Rebekah, one of them is from the bank, the other she has no idea who it is from.

Hayley walks into the kitchen, hoping to find Rebekah, but she is not there. She walks into the living room to find that Rebekah is not there either. She sighs as she makes her way towards the stairs. Running around and looking for Rebekah was not what she had in mind when she decided that she would get the mail for once. This experience has given Hayley a reason, a slightly over dramatised reason, but still a reason, to never get the mail for anybody again.

Hayley reaches the top of the stairs and sees Rebekah's bedroom door open. She walks straight to the door and does not knock before walking into the room. She sees Rebekah stood at the end of her bed folding clothes. She comes to stand next to the blonde and puts the mail down on the bed next to the pile of clothing needing to be folded.

"Thanks, darling. Anything good?" Rebekah asks, referring to the letters.

"Something from the bank, but none of it looks any good" Hayley replies.

"No, it never is any good." She pauses before saying, "however, I did get a very exciting phone call this morning."

Hayley raises her eyebrows and nods her head. She wraps her arms around the top of her towel to make it feel more secure around her. Not that she would care if the towel was to drop in front of Rebekah; she has seen it all before. But this would be different because the first thing Rebekah would look at would be Hayley's stomach, hoping and praying for a baby bump. That is a situation Hayley would very much like to avoid.

"A phone call regarding you" Rebekah says after seconds of silence.

Hayley frowns slightly, "me?"

Rebekah nods her head, smirking slightly.

"What about me?" Hayley asks, confused.

"Just about how you are now officially a divorcee and if you want a copy of any documents Cami will be happy to bring them over next week" Rebekah says, surprisingly calmly.

Hayley's eyes widen in shock. She can't quite believe what she has just heard.

"Oh my god, really?" She has to double check.

Rebekah finally stops folding clothes and turns to face her friend. She can't help but smile when she see the look of joy that is about to take over Hayley's face.

"Yes, really! She phoned me because she couldn't bloody get hold of you" Rebekah says and Hayley's smile takes over her face.

"Yes!" Hayley shouts, looking up at the ceiling.

Rebekah smiles at her and Hayley looks back at the blonde before yanking her in for a hug. Rebekah holds onto Hayley tightly, but not too tight because she doesn't want to squish her niece, or nephew. She can feel the relief and the happiness running through Hayley's body and it makes her smile even more.

"I'm free" Hayley says, quietly.

"And you'll never be tied down again" Rebekah says, gently. Then adding, "until Elijah gets down on one knee."

Hayley pulls away from the blonde and laughs, a few tears starting to build up in her eyes. Rebekah strokes Hayley's cheek with the back of two of her fingers as she feels her own tears threatening to fall.

"This is the start of a new life for you, Hayley. Don't forget to make the most of it" Rebekah says, her smile never dulling.

Hayley nods her head, still beaming from the good news.

"I won't" she tells Rebekah.

Hayley then pulls Rebekah in for another hug, a more relaxed one this time. She close her eyes and smiles against the blonde's shoulder. She truly is free from any ties to Klaus, legally at lease. Now, she can be and do whatever she wants with Elijah without it effecting Klaus whatsoever. She can leave him in the past, as long as he stays away. Which knowing him, he won't...

"We need to celebrate" Rebekah says, dragging Hayley away from any negative thoughts that were about to engulf her.

"Yeah, that sounds great" Hayley agrees, pulling back from Rebekah again.

"We'll hit all the bars and we'll drink all of those bitches out there under the table" Rebekah says, getting a bit excited.

"Yeah, there's only one problem with that plan, Rebekah" Hayley stops her before she can carry on.

Rebekah frowns and Hayley points to her stomach.

"Pregnant" Hayley reminds her.

"For god sakes, you pick your times to be pregnant don't you" Rebekah says.

"Erm, I didn't choose to be pregnant" Hayley reminds her again.

Rebekah rolls her eyes and Hayley chuckles.

"Fine. Instead of the first plan, which we will do as soon as the little one is out of you, we will do this... me, you, Marcel, baby daddy and a fancy restaurant. How does that sound?" Rebekah asks, smiling more at her own plan than at Hayley.

Hayley raises her eyebrows. "Okay, well firstly, I definitely don't agree with the baby daddy thing."

Rebekah smiles and rolls her eyes again.

"But more importantly, how does a fancy meal tonight sound?" Rebekah asks.

"That sounds great" Hayley says, smiling.

Rebekah claps her hands and then rubs them together.

"Great, I will book somewhere right now then" Rebekah says, heading for the door. She then turns back and says, "give Elijah a call and let him know he has plans for tonight."

And then she is gone.

Hayley smiles to herself as she makes her way to her and Elijah's room. She opens the door and shuts it behind her before dropping the towel onto the floor. She then walks over to the mirror in the corner of the room and stares at her stomach in the mirror. No bump... yet. She runs a hand over her flat stomach, knowing that it won't be that flat for long. She sighs and moves away from the mirror. She picks her phone up off the bed and walks towards the wardrobe, going into her contacts and calling Elijah while she looks for something nice to wear tonight.

"Hayley?" He answers almost immediately.

"Hey, you okay?" Hayley asks as she pulls a navy blue blouse from the wardrobe.

"I'm good thanks, are you?"

"Yeah I'm fine. So, Rebekah told me to call and let you know that we're going out tonight" she tells him.

"We are?" He asks, sounding a little surprised.

"Yes we are. She's booking somewhere now for us to eat and drink, and to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" He asks.

For a minute, Hayley actually considers telling Elijah that she is pregnant. What would be a better time than now? She is a new divorcee with a new sense of freedom and a wonderful man at her side to explore that with. But she isn't exactly at the three month stage yet and she could easily lose the baby at any point from natural causes. She read about that last night online.

She decides against it.

"I'm no longer married" Hayley tells him.

Elijah stay silent for a few seconds.

"That is fantastic" he says and she can hear the smile in his voice.

"I know. We don't have to worry about anything anymore" she says, more to herself than him.

"And we can start planning that vacation" Elijah says, still smiling.

Hayley smiles too.

"That sounds perfect" she admits.

"I'll be home soon, I'm just tying a few loose ends at the office" he tells her.

"How do you have so much work to do there already when you haven't officially opened yet?" Hayley asks out of curiosity, not because she doesn't trust Elijah. She trusts him with her life.

"Because some of my previous clients are relocating to this office" he answers, smoothly.

"I'm sure all that hard work will pay off" she says as she pulls a pair of black, tight jeans from the wardrobe.

"I'm sure it will" he replies.

"I'll let you go and finish your loose ends anyway" Hayley says and she hears him chuckle.

His chuckle makes her smile.

"I'll see you shortly" Elijah says.

"See you soon" Hayley says and hangs up.

She smiles to herself for a few seconds before she sighs. She throws her phone over onto the bed and throws the jeans onto the bed next to the blouse too. She then closes the wardrobe and walks over to the set f drawers. She pulls out a matching set of underwear and pulls on the knickers before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Tonight is going to be a good night" she says to herself and smiles.

Meanwhile, in a hotel room somewhere just outside of New Orleans, Klaus is just stirring from his bed. He groans as he feels the hangover lurking inside of his head, waiting for him to sit up so it can knock him back down again. He knew he shouldn't have gone to the second club with Kol last night, but he wanted to have some fun and fun is one thing that Kol can always provide.

So, he went to the second club, he drank every drink that was put in front of him and even more when he reached a nearby hotel with a very pretty blonde sat waiting in the bar for a man that they both knew was never going to show. Klaus took her date's place, he charmed her, he got her as drunk as she would allow and he showed her his room key. The woman has no problem understanding exactly what Klaus was looking for: a quick, easy and only partly satisfying on her end, one night stand. And not to Klaus' surprise, she was up for it.

Now he thinks about it, he isn't actually sure if she stayed the night. He pushes his leg onto the other side of the bed where he should feel the woman's smooth legs and feels nothing. She did go home then and he wasn't just dreaming. He slowly opens his eyes and reaches to his watch which is on the bedside table. It reads ten to twelve. He rubs his eyes with his thumb and index finger before he slowly sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Klaus straps the watch to his wrist and then looks around the room. He can't see any of his clothes except his boxers and the black jacket he brought out last night. He sighs, frustration already setting into his bones after only five minutes of being awake. He does not want to go looking around the entire hotel room to find his dirty clothes from last night and he can't be bothered, so for now he will stay naked.

As slowly as he can without getting annoyed at his own speed, Klaus stands up from the bed. He then walks to the en-suite bathroom, but before he can take his third step he hears his phone ringing. He considers ignoring it, but it could be work and work calls are the kind that he cannot afford to miss.

Following the sound of his phone, Klaus walks over to his jacket that is on the floor near the mini bar. He picks the jacket up and pulls his phone from the inside pocket. He looks at the screen to see an unknown number phoning. He frowns down at his phone, but still slides his finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Hello?" He answers, trying not to sound like he woke up only eleven minutes ago.

"Hi, am I speaking to Klaus Mikaelson?" A woman asks, sounding far too cheery.

"Yes, who is asking?" Klaus asks, walking towards the bathroom again.

"Hi, Klaus. My name is Trish, I work with Cami, the lawyer that you and Hayley Marshall have been working through your divorce with" the woman on the other line of the phone tells him.

"Well, I wouldn't say we have been working through it, but go on" Klaus says, his mood continuing to decrease with every second longer Trish stays on the phone.

"Well, I am just calling to let you know that the divorce has been finalised by a judge" Trish says, still sounding awfully cheery.

"What do you mean it has been finalised by a judge? I didn't even get the chance to sign the papers" Klaus says as he comes to stand in front of a large mirror on the bathroom wall.

"Actually, Miss O'Connell visited your home twice to discuss the signing of the papers. Both times she had no answer when she knocked at the door" Trish informs him.

Klaus grits his teeth together, his annoyance really starting to take a hold of him.

"So just like that my marriage is over?" Klaus asks, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes, that's how it works" she replies.

"A judge I have never met in my entire life can just sign a piece of paper to dictate a part of my life?" Klaus asks. He doesn't give her chance to answer, "I don't agree with that. So, here's what you can do, you can tell Cami O'Connell to give me a call herself instead of getting one of her lap dogs to do it, and then we can discuss what kind of business she thinks she is running. There is no way I am going to let a judge I have never met take control of my marriage. I don't even know this judge's fucking name!"

"I know that this can seem incorrect, but this is procedure. When one party of the divorce refuses to sign, we then take it to a judge to finalised it" Trish explains.

Klaus clenches the phone tightly in his hand, closing his eyes for a few seconds to try and calm the aching in his head and the anger threatening to bubble over. He releases a deep breath of air and opens his eyes again.

"Thank you for your time, Trish, but you can fuck off" he says before swiftly ending the call.

Klaus slams his phone down next to the sink and digs his nails into the palms of his hands as he stares down into the sink. This is not how he planned for his morning to go. He was hoping that he would have more time before the divorce was finalised, more time to show Hayley that she belonged to him. To show her that there would be punishments for the crimes she has committed against him.

Even though it is over, he won't give up. He will show her exactly what happens to those who betray him and he will make sure that she is punished for what she has done. She broke them. They were fine until she decided that she wanted Elijah, and he went along with it too. Elijah is just as bad as Hayley, if not, worse.

Klaus raises his head and looks at himself in the mirror. He looks half dead and he also feels half dead. But that won't stop him from enjoying another night out with Kol. He twists the tap and runs his hand under the semi warm water before he splashes his face with the water. He then grabs the towel hanging from a peg on the wall and wipes his face as he picks up his phone again.

He unlocks his phone and clicks onto his contacts app, searching 'K' in. Kol's name shows at the top of the screen and he clicks onto it before clicking call. He clicks speaker and puts the phone back down next to the sink as it begins to ring. Klaus pulls the packaged toothbrush from the holder and rips it open with his teeth. He then throws the packaging next to the sink and takes the small tube of toothpaste out of the holder too, just as Kol answers.

"Hey, brother. Where did you get to last night? Did you find yourself a new woman?" He can hear the wicked smile in Kol's voice.

"I'll tell you all about that later, for now we need to talk business" Klaus says.

"What business?" Kol asks, the smile from his voice now gone.

"Hayley and Elijah business" Klaus confirms.

He hears Kol chuckle from the other end of the phone.

"What's so funny?" Klaus asks, his anger rising again.

"You truly think there is anything to discuss?" Kol asks, not giving Klaus chance to answer. "Their fate has already been sealed, Nik. Tonight at midnight while they are sleeping soundly in their beds, my men will be closing in. They will be chained up and ready for torture by dawn."

Klaus finds an evil smirk working its way onto his face.

"Now, let's discuss where you disappeared to last night shall we?" Kol changes the subject.

Klaus smiles, "all in good time, brother."

"I'll meet you in the small Irish bar in an hour. You're buying the first round for keeping me waiting to her about your antics of the night" Kol says, the smile present in his voice once again.

Klaus chuckles and says, "I'll see you in an hour."

The line goes dead and Klaus sighs. Time to get ready for another day of heavily drinking and a night of even heavier partying. He puts a blob of toothpaste on his borrowed toothbrush and runs the tap again. He looks at himself in the mirror and smirks as he thinks about how his night will be ending. Hayley chained to one wall and Elijah chained to another, both covered in blood.

"Tonight is going to be a good night" Klaus says to himself, devilishly.


	41. Chapter 41

Hayley sighs as she tucks her navy blue blouse back into her jeans, while looking at her appearance in one of the many, many mirrors hanging from the wall of whichever restaurant is is they are in. It isn't that she doesn't not know where they are, it is just that she cannot pronounce the name of the place, she knows that she can't and so she refuses to even try.

It has been a wonderful night. In fact, no. It hasn't been wonderful, it has been perfect. There has been plenty of conversation, none of it being Klaus related funny enough, lots of light heated joking and teasing between them all and the food they have been indulging on has met all of Hayley's standards and managed to shoot right above them. Of course, it has been a struggle to fit all four courses in, but after her first bite of her first starter - a strange looking, but beautiful tasting kind of Italian mixture of different pastas she suspects - she knew that she would have to fit every last bit of everything the waiters lay down in front of her inside of her now slightly bloated stomach. And that she has done with great success.

Hayley turns the tap on and runs her hands under the lukewarm water. The sound of a toilet flushing comes from inside of one of the cubicles behind Hayley and seconds later Rebekah emerges from the stall. They make eye contact through one of the mirrors and Hayley can not help but smile in amusement at her friend; she is stressed out about the final course they are about to have.

Rebekah has opted for an outfit quite similar to Hayley's tonight: a light blue blouse with white jeans and her beloved Valentino heels. Marcel, trying to charm his way into getting lucky at the end of the night, begged them to let him take pictures of them, more of Rebekah of course, but he did get some of them stood together, promising to send them to Elijah after he had done. Hayley felt nervous while he was taking their picture, she felt like she was stood in the spotlight on a stage in high school, about to try out for the yearly production. She never has been one for having her picture taken.

"I don't think I will survive this last course, Hayley" Rebekah says, dramatically as she comes to stand at the sink next to Hayley.

Hayley chuckles, "you'll be okay. If I can do it, then you definitely can."

"I'm not saying I can't do it, Hayley. I'm saying I don't think I will be able to survive it" the blonde replies.

Hayley chuckles and shakes her head at her friend. She turns her tap off just as Rebekah turns hers on and she makes her way over to the hand dryer.

"So, tonight has been fabulous and all around great, wouldn't you say?" Rebekah asks, seeming completely innocent, but Hayley knows better.

"Yes, it has" Hayley says, watching her friend carefully and not turning the hand dryer on just yet. She needs to hear whatever Rebekah is going to say next.

"Then perhaps this could be the perfect opportunity to tell a certain someone about a certain baby they are having" Rebekah says.

Hayley knows that Rebekah has a point.

"You think so?" Hayley asks, playing along with her friend's game.

Rebekah turns the tap off and comes to stand next to Hayley at one of the other hand dryers.

"Well, it makes perfect sense really. He's been drinking so, he is slightly more jolly than usual, you have had great news today which has led to you both having a brilliant night, and you have been provided with a perfect location to do the grand revealing" the blonde explains, trying to hide her excitement.

Hayley smirks, "you've been thinking about this for awhile haven't you?"

"Maybe" Rebekah says, not bothering to hide her guilty smile.

Hayley shakes her head, smiling to herself because she should have expected that this was the real reason Rebekah offered to pay for literally everything tonight. She sees Rebekah go to speak again and quickly puts her hands under the dryer, starting the machine and it's loud humming noise. Rebekah knows exactly what Hayley is doing and she rolls her eyes at her before sticking her own hands under the dryer she is stood at.

After what seems like just a few seconds and definitely not enough time for Hayley to come up with a subject to change to, the sound of her dryer slowly comes to a stop. She shakes her hands, shaking the last bits of damp away before moving back to the mirror she was stood at earlier. She looks at herself in the mirror again and she would be lying if she said her eyes didn't fall towards her stomach.

Rebekah comes to stand next to her again and runs her hands through her soft, blonde curls. Hayley turns to face away from the mirror, leaning her back against the counter as she watches Rebekah mess with her hair. She folds her arms across her chest and bites her lip.

"How far along are you anyway?" Rebekah asks, without needing to make reference to the baby growing inside of Hayley; they both know exactly what she is talking about.

"Good question" Hayley says, because she has no idea what the answer is.

"You don't have the slightest idea how far along you are?" Rebekah asks. Most would be scared that they are being judged by Rebekah right now, but Hayley knows that she is not.

Hayley shakes her head.

"Not the slightest clue" she responds.

Rebekah leans closer to the mirror and removes a tiny and unnoticeable to normal people, smudge of lipstick from the corner of her mouth.

"Well, I guess you can't be expected to know with all that banging and not one ounce of protection" the blonde says.

Hayley almost laughs at the way Rebekah phrases it, but wills herself to remain serious about the situation.

"Well, your baby mad, so tell me... when does the morning sickness usually kick in?" Hayley asks.

Without even having to think about it, Rebekah replies, "it can start from as early as week six and can last until around week fourteen, but everyone has different experiences. For example, when our mother was pregnant with Finn, she says she had the morning sickness for at least twelve weeks."

Hayley would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed by the blonde's information, and slightly worried about the possibility of twelve weeks of morning sickness.

"Twelve weeks? Seriously?" Hayley asks, letting her reluctance be heard in her tone.

Rebekah nods calmly. Hayley shakes her head.

"Fuck that" she says, quietly.

Rebekah chuckles at her friend and looks at her through the mirror.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have the average amount of morning sickness" Rebekah says. "So anyway, the morning sickness has already started which means you are definitely past week six."

Hayley nods her head in understanding.

"So, when was the last time you and Elijah had sex?" Rebekah asks, suddenly.

Hayley almost chokes on thin air. She turns her head sharply to look at Rebekah, to double check that she heard correctly. It turns out that she did indeed hear correctly and the blonde, of course, has no shame in having this conversation.

"I'd rather not tell you" Hayley says, which Rebekah finds amusing. She can tell by the way the blonde's eyes are shinning.

"I mean the last time before the last six weeks, not like did you do it last night, Hayley" Rebekah tells her.

"That literally changes nothing, I still don't want to tell you" Hayley says, unfolding her arms.

"Why not? I'm trying to help you here" Rebekah says, faking offence.

"We have definitely spent too long in this toilet" Hayley says, trying desperately to slip away from this conversation.

She heads towards the door, not looking back to see if Rebekah is following because she knows that she will be. Rebekah confirms this for her when she puts her hand on the small of Hayley's back to give her a gentle push through the second door leading to the women's bathroom.

They walk down the short corridor that leads to the main room inside of the restaurant, passing a man who seems to be very interested in Rebekah's cleavage on the way. Hayley moves through the main room as quickly as she can, sensing that Rebekah is still not ready to drop this particular subject. And she is right.

"You are probably about nine weeks I'd say" she hears Rebekah say just a bit too loudly as she comes to walk besides Hayley.

"And you are probably best lowering your voice" Hayley says.

"If you are nine weeks, then you can get your first scan done" Rebekah says, ignoring what Hayley just said.

"We can come back to the scan thing when Elijah knows that I am carrying his baby" Hayley says, looking to her right at a man sat at the bar.

"Well, that was definitely not what I expected to hear."

They both freeze as they seem Marcel stood in front of them. Hayley feels her stomach drop, dragging down all of the lovely consumed food with it... she is definitely going to be sick about fifteen times tomorrow after all of that food. She opens her mouth to say something, she has no idea what, but apparently she is about to say something, when Rebekah beats her to it.

"If you ever repeat a word of what you just heard, I will strangle you in your sleep" Rebekah says, pointing her finger into Marcel's chest.

He looks very shocked by the threat, but not annoyed, or provoked by it.

"I guess that's my silence bought" he says, daring a quick look at Hayley.

"Good. Now, where do you think you are going?" Rebekah demands more than asks. Her finger still jabbing him in the chest.

"To the bathroom" Marcel tells her.

Rebekah nods, satisfied with her fiance's answer.

"Be quick, please" she says, then reaching up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Rebekah drops her finger and Marcel dashes past them. Hayley has no idea what to say about the exchange she just witnessed between them and to be honest, she doesn't have it in her to comment on it right now. All this time she has been worried about Rebekah letting the secret slip and it was her who has gone and done it. It is typical that Marcel would pick that conversation to walk in on, Rebekah does always say that he has terrible timing.

Hayley carries on walking, hoping that if she pretends nothing just happened that everything will be fine and her heart rate will return to normal. Rebekah follows. She wraps her hand around Hayley's forearm carefully and holds onto it as they walk, leaning in closer to her.

"You know he won't say anything, right?" Rebekah asks, quietly.

"You have said it enough yourself, Rebekah: you don't trust Marcel, even if you are in love with him" Hayley replies, just as quietly.

"Yeah, I don't trust him with me, or with our relationship. He will probably chat a girl up on the way back from the bathroom because that is who he is, but I do trust him with this. He isn't a gossiper, Hayley, even if he is a cheating liar."

Hayley nods. What Rebekah is saying makes sense.

"I guess I don't have a choice but to trust him anyway" Hayley says, more to herself than to the blonde.

"Well, that's your own fault, you should have kept your voice down" Rebekah says, teasingly and quickly before walking past a shocked Hayley.

The table is barely even a few feet away now, so she is definitely not going to risk saying anything back to the blonde. She will be getting her back however... somehow.

Rebekah takes her seat at the table and Elijah looks up from the menu, his eyes moving past his sister and straight to Hayley. He gives her one of his most charming smiles and she couldn't stop the smile that comes onto her face even if she wanted to. She takes her seat next to him and puts her hand on his thigh, squeezing it gently once.

"So, what are our dessert options, brother?" Rebekah asks as she picks up the menu in front of her.

Elijah lifts his menu from the table again and holds it in one hand, his other hand moving to cover Hayley's hand on his thigh. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze and she turns her hand over, interlocking their fingers together.

"There is a large variety, but personally I'd recommend anything with ice cream. After our other courses, the ice cream will not be so filling, or too sickly" he tells them.

"Always so wise" Hayley says, smiling at him teasingly.

He looks at her and smiles back for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the desserts menu.

Marcel takes his seat next to Rebekah and lets out a breath of air. He quickly adjusts the cuff-link on the sleeve of his crisp white shirt before he picks up his menu and starts to scan it. He then drops the menu back onto the table and starts to play with his cuff-link again.

"I know what I'm having" he tells them.

Rebekah lowers her menu and looks at Marcel.

"Did you even read the menu?" The blonde asks.

Marcel nods, "yeah and I saw what I wanted so, I put it down before something else can catch my eye and make me want that too."

"That's not a bad idea actually" Hayley says, finally picking up her own menu. "I always end up getting stuck trying to decide between two things."

"What are you having then?" Rebekah asks, putting her own menu down.

"The Irish cream creme brulee" he replies, confidently.

Rebekah nods her head in acknowledgement.

"A good choice" Elijah comments, still looking at his own menu.

"We should all pick something we like the look of and get four of them, then we can all try whatever the others are having" Marcel says, still playing with his cuff-link.

"Are you forgetting who is paying for all of this?" Rebekah asks, leaning forwards onto the table.

"Forget the price, Rebekah, it'll be fun" Marcel says.

Elijah shakes his head while smirking and raises his head from his menu.

"You should know better than to get in between a woman and her money, Marcel, especially a woman like my sister" Elijah says, then shooting a cheeky smirk at Rebekah.

"How dare you" Rebekah says, playfully. "You are the last one who can comment on my fiances when the shirt you are wearing probably costs more than what this entire evening will."

They all chuckle at the blonde and she smiles proudly to herself.

Hayley puts her menu down and sighs, hoping that she can fit the delicious dish she has just chosen in.

"What are you having, Hayley?" Rebekah asks.

"I'm going to have the New York style Cheesecake" the brown haired woman replies.

Rebekah nods approvingly. "That does sound very nice."

"Is that what you're having?" Hayley asks.

"Nope. I was going to, but I decided on the chocolate hazelnut ice cream cheesecake. Besides, I can just taste some of yours instead of ordering myself one" the blonde replies, cheekily.

Hayley does a fake laugh and shakes her head.

"Oh no, I won't be sharing" Hayley says and Elijah chuckles at her.

Elijah puts down his menu and looks around for their waiter. He is no where in sight and their table is quickly running out of drink.

"I'll go and order these at the bar" Elijah announces as he stands.

"Along with another bottle of wine" Rebekah says.

Elijah smiles, "yes, along with another bottle of wine."

"Thank you, darling" Rebekah says, smiling and holding her menu out to Elijah.

He takes her menu and collects the other three. He then turns to look at Hayley.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything other than water?" He asks her.

Hayley gives the best smile she can manage with two sets of knowing eyes on her.

"Nope, just another water please" Hayley says.

Elijah nods and he starts to walk away from the table. Hayley instantly wishes that she had of volunteered to go with him because now she is alone with not just Rebekah, but Marcel as well. Both who know about her pregnancy and both who are looking at her like they are about to explode if they don't start asking questions.

Marcel, who is new to this whole thing, is the first to break.

"So, you're having a baby."

It's not a question, it is a statement. A true one and a very delicate one.

She nods slowly, because she really has no idea what she is suppose to say to that.

Marcel nods too, ignoring the fact that Rebekah is glaring at him.

"And it's Elijah's" he then says.

"Marcel" Rebekah warns.

"Yes, it is." Hayley confirms what he already knows.

Marcel nods again.

"Does he know?"

"Obviously not, or else we would be celebrating that instead of Hayley's divorce" Rebekah answers.

"I'm just checking so I don't put my foot in it" Marcel tells them.

"Yeah, well, stop checking. We are here to celebrate tonight, not to make awkward tension for Elijah to return to" Rebekah says.

"Sorry, Hayley" Marcel says, genuinely.

Hayley shakes her head. "You don't have to say sorry, you were just asking harmless questions. They just don't seem harmless because he doesn't know yet."

"He'll love it, you know... being a dad" Marcel says.

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for" Hayley says, quietly as she spots Elijah on his way back.

"Well, if he is anything like Rebekah, the second you tell him he'll be out buying balloons and teddies, and all that shit" Marcel says, giving her a reassuring smile.

Hayley smiles back, choosing not to reply because Elijah is back. He opens the button on his blazer as he rounds the table to take his seat next to Hayley. He then pulls his chair more under the table before looking up and scanning the faces around him. They are all looking at him like they are waiting for something.

"Tell me you haven't been sat here in silence while I have been gone?" Elijah asks, smirking.

Marcel leans forward onto the table, quick to respond. "No, we were just talking about weddings."

Rebekah's eyes widen and she stares down at her fork on the table, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Hayley has to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at the blonde's face.

"Are you finally going through with it?" Elijah asks, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, not sure when still, but we were talking about the colour scheme" Marcel says, nodding.

"I suppose that is a start" Elijah says.

"Yeah, we were thinking we could have yellow and red, maybe blue if we can't get red. Rebekah thinks the bridesmaids should wear either a red, or blue dress, like I said, it depends what colour we can get hold of. And I'll be wearing a yellow tie, the best men can wear whatever colour matches the bridesmaids dresses and then we are going to this special place in Atlanta to get a these special yellow effects added onto the wedding dress, when she finally picks one" Marcel explains, leaving Rebekah shocked.

This time however, she is more shocked because he actually listens to her rather than because he has brought up the subject that is there "never happening" wedding, as he once called it. Rebekah reaches over and takes his in hers. He looks at her and smiles before turning back to Elijah.

"That sounds really nice" Hayley says. "Now, you just need to set a date."

"Well, this year has been pretty hectic so far, so maybe next year." Marcel turns to look at Rebekah again. "How do you feel about next year?"

Rebekah stares into his eyes, not sure if he is drunk, or being serious. He does not seem to be drunk and it would be rude to decline while in company. Not that she would decline anyways; this is the most she has managed to get Marcel to talk about their wedding since the day he asked her to marry him.

"Next year is perfect" Rebekah says, smiling.

Marcel smiles back at her and turns back to Elijah again.

"Next year it is then" Marcel says to Elijah.

Elijah smiles. He is glad that Marcel is finally taking his commitment towards Rebekah seriously.

Three waiters approach their table, one coming to stand next to Rebekah, and one coming to stand next to Marcel, while the other slots himself in between them. One of them places Marcel and Rebekah's desserts in front of them and then leaves quickly. The other does the same, placing Elijah and Hayley's desserts in front of them before leaving. The final waiter remains, wine bottle in his hands.

"Would you like me to pour the wine, sir?" The waiter asks, directing his question at Elijah.

"If you wouldn't mind" Elijah responds.

"Of course not, sir."

The waiter pours one glass. He then hands it to Rebekah. He pours another glass and puts it on the table in front of Marcel. He then pours a third glass and hands the glass to Elijah. He goes to pour a fourth glass and three sets of eyes start to panic.

"Oh, no, no, no, none for me thanks" Hayley says, quickly.

The waiter looks up at her, he actually looks like he might pour one anyway. He doesn't, but the hesitation was there.

"Now I think about it, I do recall sir ordering a glass of water. My apologises, miss" he says and leaves, assumingly to get her a glass of water.

That kind of incident was definitely not one that Hayley wanted. Attention has once again been brought to the fact that she is refusing alcohol of all kinds tonight when she would usually be very tipsy by now.

"Is there a particular reason why you aren't drinking tonight, Hayley?" Elijah asks, out of curiosity and nothing else, Hayley can tell.

The question still makes her nervous though.

"No, not really. Just this challenge me and Rebekah were going to start" Hayley says, hoping her lie is believable.

"Challenge?" Elijah asks, looking to Rebekah.

"Yeah. We were suppose to do 30 days without alcohol, but Rebekah's let the side down already" Hayley says, gesturing to the glass of wine currently in Rebekah's hand.

Rebekah is quick to play along, thankfully.

"Yes, well, when the wine is this good can you really expect me to reject it?" She asks, putting on a damn good act.

"I'm managing" Hayley says.

"We aren't all as strong as you, dear" Rebekah says and takes a sip from the glass to prove her point.

Hayley chuckles at the blonde.

"You guys gonna argue over this all night, or are you gonna eat those desserts?" Marcel asks.

They all look at him to see him already halfway through his dessert. Rebekah starts to laugh at him and Hayley finds her laughter rather contagious. Elijah shakes his head in amusement and then pinks up his spoon.

"So, considering you have already hovered up most of yours, I'm going to guess that yours is good, Marcel" Rebekah says, smirking.

"It's more than good" he replies, mouth full.

Rebekah chuckles at him.

Hayley leans over closer to Elijah and looks at his. He ordered ice cream, just like he said he was going to.

"What is it?" She asks him, nodding to his dish.

"Cherry swirl vanilla ice cream" he tells her before depositing some into his mouth.

"Is it nice?" She asks him.

Elijah nods his head in response. He then gets more of the dessert on his spoon and holds it out towards Hayley. She looks at him, hesitant to eat from his spoon while they are with Rebekah and Marcel, but she does want to try it. So, she leans forwards and accepts the mouthful Elijah has offered. And just life usual, he is right, it is very nice.

"It's lovely" Hayley confirms.

Elijah continues with his own dessert, while Hayley finally has some of hers. It is beautiful. That first bite is all it takes for her to become addicted to the cheesecake lying before her. Even if she looked for an imperfection, there would be none. And even though she is full and her stomach will hurt later from all of the food she has ate, this will definitely be getting finished.

"What do you plan to do with this one now that she is officially all yours then, Elijah?" Rebekah asks, in between bites.

Hayley is enjoying her dessert far too much to pay any attention to what Rebekah just said, so she stays quiet.

Elijah smirks, "perhaps a vacation."

"I think we all need one of those" Marcel says, jokingly.

Elijah smiles at him.

"A sexy, steamy holiday is what we need, not a vacation" Rebekah says to Marcel.

Marcel smiles, "I definitely agree with that."

Hayley looks up from her food to see the couple opposite her giving each other the sex eyes and she definitely does not approve while she is trying to eat her little slice of heaven.

"How about we save the sex talk for when we aren't sat in a nice, fancy restaurant?" Hayley asks, looking between Rebekah and Marcel.

Elijah chuckles at her.

"What a shame, I was really looking forward to giving you a few tips" Rebekah says, smirking at Hayley.

Hayley assumes that is a wear protection joke, but she can't be sure. She scowls at the blonde anyway, just in case.

"I could eat another one of them" Marcel says, dropping his spoon in his empty bowl.

"How do you eat so fast and not throw up?" Rebekah asks, amazed.

Marcel shrugs.

"I should really go on a super long run tomorrow after all of this food" Hayley comments, before putting more food into her mouth.

"Your figure is beautiful, Hayley, you have nothing to worry about" Elijah says.

Hayley smiles at him and accepts the compliment. Her figure won't be beautiful for long after all.

"I'm going to hit the gym tomorrow after work" Marcel tells them.

"I think I'll go running with you, Hayley" Rebekah says, not leaving much room for an argument.

"You want to come gym with me, Elijah?" Marcel asks.

Elijah has a mouthful of his ice cream before replying, "I'm working."

"Bloody hell, if you're this busy with that office of yours now, I'd hate to see how busy you will be when it actually opens" the blonde says, then eating the last spoonful of her dessert.

"Hopefully things will fall into place once it is open" Elijah says.

"They will, don't worry" Hayley says, despite knowing he isn't that worried about things at the office. They have had this conversation a few times now and from what she has gathered, he is more excited than worried to get the opening out of the way.

Marcel downs his glass of wine and then lets out a loud breath of air.

"I think we should take this party back home and open a bottle of the good bourbon" he says, smirking at Rebekah.

"Definitely not leaving without finishing this" Hayley says, mouthful.

"I have to say, a part of me regrets not getting that what you have, Hayley" Rebekah admits.

"You can get it next time" Hayley says, not about to share.

Rebekah frowns at her friend.

"Next time?" Rebekah pauses. "You think there will be a next time after all the money we have spent here tonight?"

Hayley looks up at the blonde.

"Well yeah. There has to be a next time if we ever have anything else we need to celebrate." And yes, that was Hayley implying that Rebekah can buy them all a four-course meal when she reveals that she is pregnant to Elijah.

"Don't push your luck" Rebekah says, teasingly.

Hayley smiles and finishes her last bite just as Elijah as does. Elijah then takes a large sip from his wine glass.

"I bet Jack's missed us" Hayley says.

"He'll be fine. He's tough" Marcel says. He takes Rebekah's wine glass in his hand and downs it quickly before Rebekah can protest against him. He then smiles at Hayley, "besides, we'll be home soon."

"You are luck we're in public or I'd slap you for that" Rebekah says, glaring at Marcel.

Hayley chuckles at them.

Elijah downs the last of his wine and smiles at the people sat around him.

"Shall we leave then?" He asks.

Marcel is the first up. He drags his blazer off of the back of his chair and puts it on. Rebekah and Hayley stand up at the same time, with Elijah standing up last. Elijah comes to stand closer to Hayley, putting his hand on the small of her back. She leans into his body as they all watch Rebekah pull her credit card from her pocket.

"I'll get the bill and meet you lot outside" Rebekah says.

She gives Marcel a pat on the backside as she walks past him towards the bar.

Marcel ignores what Rebekah just did and starts to lead them towards the exit. Hayley follows him, with Elijah following her, his hand always remaining on her back. She likes the contact, it's like a constant reminder that he is there. With everything that has been going on recently, that is the kind of thing she needs right now.

They walk outside into the parking lot and walk over to wear Elijah's Jaguar is waiting. Hayley suddenly feels her heart in her mouth because she is the only one who has not drank. She is the only one who can drive. She is about to drive Elijah's beautiful, luxurious car and he must trust her to do so, or else he surely wouldn't have drank over the limit.

Elijah puts one hand on either side of her waist as he stands behind her. He puts his mouth to her ear and gently says, "get in."

Hayley sighs and makes her way to the driver's side. This will only be a big deal if she lets it be.

Hayley opens the car door and gets into the driver's seat. Elijah slips into the passenger seat next to her and Marcel gets into the seat behind Hayley's seat. She runs her hands along the leather steering wheel and can't seem to stop the small smile that appears on her face. She hasn't driven a car like this ever in her life. In fact, what is quite worrying is how long she hasn't drove a car for at all. She's sure she'll be fine.

The back door suddenly opens and Rebekah climbs into the back of the car. Hayley turns around to look at her friend, who is currently looking unhappy while putting her seat belt on.

"Well, how much was it?" Marcel asks.

"Too much for us to have a calm conversation about" Rebekah says.

Elijah and Hayley share a look. Elijah then chuckles and pulls his seat belt on. Hayley puts hers on as well and starts the car's engine. Just like usual, it purrs like a pussy cat. Hayley smiles to herself as she pulls out of the parking spot perfectly. Driving a masterpiece like this, now this is something she could definitely get use to.

After a very short fifteen minute drive, a conversation about the car, a conversation about dogs and a conversation about how Marcel wants to go to China, they arrive home. Hayley parks the car to the best of her ability, which must be very good because she wins a proud smile from Elijah. She is hoping that she has passed this test and he will get her insured on his car, she doubts it, but she can hope.

Just as Hayley unbuckles her seat belt, Rebekah says, "the doors open."

Everyone stays silent and looks to the front door of the house.

Rebekah is correct... the door is open.

"Why the fuck is the door open?" Rebekah asks, trying to mask her fear with anger. It isn't working very well.

"I definitely locked it" Marcel says.

"Call the police" Rebekah says, to no one in general.

Hayley is the first to pull her phone out of her pocket. She hits the number nine once and then the number one twice. And after everything they have been through and with a baby to protect, she doesn't hesitate to hit call.


End file.
